'DROWNING MAN' UMNO WON'T ROCK THE BOAT UNTIL 2027 - AFTER GE16, IT'S ANYTHING GOES - SO SAYS MAT HASAN, BUT CAN HE & ZAHID STAVE OFF A SHERATON 2.0 PULLED BY FOES FROM WITHIN & OUTSIDE UMNO BEFORE THEN

'DROWNING MAN' UMNO WON'T ROCK THE BOAT UNTIL 2027 - AFTER GE16, IT'S ANYTHING GOES - SO SAYS MAT HASAN, BUT CAN HE & ZAHID STAVE OFF A SHERATON 2.0 PULLED BY FOES FROM WITHIN & OUTSIDE UMNO BEFORE THEN

KUALA LUMPUR (Politics Now!) - 'Drowning man' Umno will stay in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's unity government, which includes the Chinese-led DAP, until 2027 - then it may dump its Pakatan Harapan allies and go it alone.

"Our main target is 2027, because GE16 must be called by May of that year," Umno deputy president  Mohamad Hasan told a political rally of some 300 people in Pahang yesterday. 

"When we come to that, we will assess our party again, whether we have become very strong, or if we can stand on our own, and whether we need to rely on partners or not." 

Mohamad who is better known as Mat Hasan is also the Defence Minister. He was campaigning in the Felda Chemomoi settlement in Bentong ahead of the October 7 Pelangai by-election.

"We assess ourselves when we come to that point. Don't do it now, because we are definitely not strong and we need partners," Malaysiakini reported him as saying.

"It is like we are drowning. What we should do when we are drowning is to stay afloat, swim to the nearest island or river bank, and save ourselves.

"We dry our shirt and nurse ourselves back to health first, and only then decide on what we are going to do next," Mat Hasan added.

FROM 'MAHATHIR MADE UMNO HATE DAP' TO ‘PAS TO BLAME'

The Umno No.2 blamed PAS for 'forcing' the BN coalition which his party leads to work with Anwar and Pakatan. Many Malays including from amongst Umno members have been wary of working with long-time political foe DAP.

According to Mat Hasan, Umno suffered major losses in the 15th general election (GE15) held last year because PAS had 'betrayed its promise' to work together with Umno under the 'Muafakat Nasional' deal. Instead PAS opted to ally with Bersatu - a political party led by ex-prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

"What we are doing now is so that the party can rise again. There is no use if we stay outside the government," said Mat Hasan.

"By being part of the government, we can do many things. We can manage many agendas. So, do not get this wrong."

PAS is the country's largest Islamic-based political party and won the most seats in GE15. Led by Hadi Awang, PAS has taken a hardline stance that insists on only Malays holding political power - even though Hadi once backed a 'PAS for All' vision and his party had worked hand in glove with DAP as well as Anwar's PKR party in previous general elections.

The PAS hypocrisy has not gone unnoticed. Neither has Umno's despite Mat Hasan insisting that Umno only agreed to work with Anwar and DAP out of respect for the King.

Umno is a party known for endemic corruption in its ranks and championing Malay supremacy as its raison d'etre. It is often accused of suppressing non-Malay rights to the extent of taking the country to the brink of 'failed state' status. 

Under various presidents, it ruled Malaysia for over 6 decades and before blaming PAS, Umno leaders have blamed their former president Mahathir Mohamad for making Malays fear and hate the non-Malays - so as to justify the decision by the party's current leadership to work with DAP. 

The King had urged the political parties to form a coalition government after the GE15 resulted in a hung outcome, with no party holding a clear majority.

Politics Now!