PRIME Minister Anwar Ibrahim and unity government component leaders have been invited to attend the Umno General Assembly from June 7 to 10.

Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said this as a historic move for the party, adding that Anwar will attend but won’t give a speech.

“Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will not address… He will be our guest of honour. The agenda will be just the president’s policy speech,” he told a press conference at the Umno headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

The unity government is a coalition of 19 parties.

All wing leaders who support the unity government were also invited.

Asyraf said the assembly agenda will include economic issues, political and government stability, the six state polls, and Islam, the Malays and Bumiputeras.

He said a special assembly will be held to amend several clauses in the Umno constitution to facilitate the registration of new members, especially online.

“This was the intention of president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to simplify party membership, especially online membership. We received feedback that many are interested to join Umno but there are constitutional constraints. For example, every registration must be approved by the division chief, so we want to make it easier to get Umno closer to the younger generation,” he said.

The Mara chairman said 6,341 delegates will attend the gathering – the largest turnout expected after a constitutional amendment last January allowing the presence of division, information and wing chiefs at the assembly.

In response to former Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin’s recent prediction that Umno is likely to lose half the support of Malay voters in the six state polls, Asyraf said that was just Khairy’s opinion. 

Aysraf said Umno has never deviated from its agenda to defend the position of Islam, Malays and Bumiputeras, as well as Malay rulers. – Bernama, June 2, 2023.