JOHOR BARU: Barisan Nasional will need to work hard to convince its traditional supporters that the coalition’s cooperation with Pakatan Harapan is for the good of every Malaysian, says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Barisan chairman, who is also Umno president, said this as the coalition goes into another election with Pakatan after suffering severe defeats during the recently concluded state elections.
“Even though the unity government has been running for nine months, there are concerns about the cooperation of both coalitions,” he said.
“This is not new for Barisan; we cooperated with Gerakan at one point when it was an opposition party that was in control of Penang at that time,” he added.
Barisan is expected to campaign for Pakatan’s candidate in the Pulai and Simpang Jeram by-elections, which are due in about two weeks. Today is nomination day for both polls.
When Umno worked together with Gerakan in the late 70s, its members had a hard time accepting the opposition party, he added, but the grassroots agreed to it after many rounds of explanation.
“We want to form a civilised Malaysia with a diversity of races without abandoning our national identity,” he added.
