THERE is nothing to brag about Umno being the biggest party in Malaysia when it suffered “heavy” defeat in the last general election, Mohamad Hasan said. 

With Umno having suffered defeats in two consecutive general elections, the Umno deputy president said the party has to accept the fact that they were rejected by Malaysians in the federal polls. 

“Umno only won 19 seats in the Peninsula and seven in Sabah, given the fact that it is the biggest political party in Malaysia,” the Rembau MP said. 

“Barisan Nasional (BN) did not win a single seat in Perlis, Terengganu, Kelantan, Penang, Selangor, Kedah and Malacca, while we only won one seat in the Federal Territories. 

“What do all these figures mean? It means we have to accept and live with the fact that we have lost terribly. 

“That’s why we can’t brag or be in denial, acting as if Umno is very strong whereas the party was rejected by Malaysians, handing us a big defeat,” Mohamad, who is fondly known as Tok Mat said during his keynote speech at the joint opening of the party’s Wanita, Youth and Puteri assemblies at the Putra World Trade Centre this evening.

Realising the downfall of Umno, Mohamad said it had to form a partnership with Pakatan Harapan (PH) and be part of the current unity government for its survival. 

“Based on this reality and the position that we have lost, Umno leadership agreed to a political ijtihad (reasoning) to form a unity government with PH because we realised how little influence we had in the eyes of the voters. 

“For Umno’s survival, we had to find a way to be part of the government and by God’s will, Umno and BN, which had a total of 30 seats, were destined to be in the unity government after the King had decreed it following the political impasse,” he said. 

Mohamad, who is now the Defence Minister, admitted that Umno and BN had failed to get the trust of most of the 5.8 million new voters registered in the general election. 

He said there was no significant increase in the number of votes for BN in GE14 and GE15. 

Mohamad, who is also BN’s election chief, said the total number of votes the coalition gained in both federal polls was around 3.5 million. 

“Despite our defeat, Umno had the unique opportunity to play a role in resolving the post-election political chaos. 

“At this moment of uncertainty, we were the ones who came forward to ensure political as well as the country’s stability. 

“From a party that was defeated, Umno became a complement to the formation of the unity government,” he said. 

He said BN’s participation in the unity government is decisive in ensuring the legitimacy of the current administration. – June 7, 2023.