KUALA LUMPUR: Umno and Barisan Nasional will continue to respect all component parties within the unity government and only make requests through official party channels, says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Barisan chairman said this in response to Umno supreme council member Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed who urged DAP, a Pakatan Harapan party in the unity government, to drop its “Malaysian Malaysia” slogan from its party constitution if it wants to gain support from the Malays.
Ahmad Zahid said Nur Jazlan’s statement is his personal opinion and not the official stand of Umno and Barisan.
“We respect all of our friends, the component parties of the unity government.
“If there is a request, it will have to be done through party meetings,” he told a press conference at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The request refers to DAP’s Malaysian Malaysia agenda.
In a Facebook post on Aug 30, Nur Jazlan, who is Pulai Umno division chief, said the Malays were hesitant to fully support DAP due to its secular state agenda, which “contradicts Islamic and Malay principles”.
Because of DAP’s political stand, he claimed that Malay voters in Selangor and Johor told him that they cannot accept the Pakatan party.
On Friday, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke said the party need not drop its secular nation agenda and Malaysian Malaysia slogan merely to secure support from other ethnic groups.
Yesterday, Ahmad Zahid opened the Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress (Kimma) general assembly.
On remarks by Kimma president Datuk Seri Syed Ibrahim Kader that his party would no longer submit an application to join Barisan, Ahmad Zahid said that his hands are tied.
“This is because Barisan’s constitution states that any decision to allow the participation of a new party into the coalition must be agreed upon by all component parties within the pact.
“We have to respect our constitution which states that this decision needs a consensus from all component parties.
“This is a problem for us, but God willing, we will see a change to this. We will discuss the matter,” he added.
On a separate matter, Ahmad Zahid said Barisan is confident of becoming the dominant coalition in Malaysia’s political landscape once again, adding that he believes that this will happen by the 16th General Election (GE16).
“In GE16, we will become the dominant party once again in the country’s political stage.
“We are facing many tests, and as such, do not give up. Only those with a strong willpower will be successful in the end,” he said.
Ahmad Zahid, who is Deputy Prime Minister, is also confident that the next prime minister will come from Umno and Barisan.
He is positive that Barisan will be able to secure more seats in GE16, thus defeating other coalitions such as Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan.
“Many are asking how long will Umno-Barisan leaders stay as the deputy prime minister and not the prime minister.
“My answer is, we will have our own PM when we win more seats than other coalitions,” he said.
