UMNO is not confident of facing the next general election alone and is opening its doors to PAS in a last attempt to woo the Islamist party, observers said.

They said Umno has realised that it would not be able to win more than 40 seats unless it found an ally.

They also described Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s earlier announcement, that the Malay nationalist party would go into the polls without a partner, as shocking.

However, last week Zahid said Umno would return to the negotiation table with PAS, as long as PAS ditched Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional, and embraced Umno and Barisan Nasional.

He told reporters the three conditions were conveyed to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang when they met recently.

Veteran political observer Sayuti Omar told The Malaysian Insight that Umno has realised that it cannot win more than 40 parliamentary seats without a partner.

“What Bersatu’s Rahim Thamby Chik said recently, that Umno was not going to get more than 50 seats, was right.

“They need PAS to win at least 15 to 20 extra seats, but the problem is PAS wants Bersatu. Zahid is now in a dilemma.

“One time he was so sure of going solo in the election but now he has lowered his tone to accept PAS.

“In Malay majority seats, not everyone is supporting Umno. Some want Bersatu and some want Pakatan Harapan.

“The young ones are not in favour of Umno, so now it is not confident.

“If Umno still believes the outcome will be like in Johor and Malacca, then it is wrong. The low voter turnout helped them win in the state elections,” Sayuti said.

In March, pundits said BN’s victory in the Johor elections was mainly due to disunity among opposition parties and low voter turnout.

BN won 40 out of the 56 seats in Johor, DAP and Amanah – contesting under the PH banner – won 11, while PKR which used its own logo, won one.

Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) won three seats, with the former prime minister calling themselves “underdogs”. Youth-based party Muda, an ally of PH, won one seat.

Better chances with PAS

“It is surprising that Zahid wants PAS again, maybe he saw there are some issues that are not on Umno’s side, such as the Littoral Combat Ship scandal,” Mazlan Ali, of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, said.

“They need PAS to smooth things over. It seems like they are not confident.”

“Yet are they going to work only in the 27 seats that now belong to PH? What would happen to other seats such as Pengkalan Chepa or Kuala Terengganu or some seats in Johor?

“If they are only going to agree on the 27 seats, this is not a clear message to send out to their members. We are working together but only at some seats, we will fight each other at other seats. Is this what they are trying to say?” he said, referring to PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man who had said he hoped for negotiations with Umno through Muafakat Nasional (MN) to avoid clashes with BN in 27 “critical” parliamentary seats.

Mazlan said there are currently 120 Malay majority seats in the country.

“Are they going to share the seats or are they going to fight each other?” Mazlan said.

On the other hand, Ilham Centre executive director Hisommudin Bakar said Umno was not afraid of going solo into the election. It just wanted PAS to join in to improve its chances of winning.

He added Zahid wanted to create doubts in Bersatu’s relationship with PAS.

“This is Umno’s last attempt to invite PAS and Umno wants Bersatu to doubt PAS. Umno and Bersatu may not agree to co-operate but PAS is eager for the so-called Penyatuan Ummah plan.

“Umno is telling PAS that they have only one option: with us or against us. Umno is confident to go solo, but they feel if they can get PAS under MN, it would be better,” he said.

He added that Umno can no longer hope for the results of Johor and Malacca because the voter turnout could be higher during the general election.

“If they think the results can repeat again by hoping for low voter turnout, it could backfire. In a general election, the turnout would be different. It won’t be the same,” he added. – October 8, 2022.