KUALA LUMPUR: In the next general election (GE15) Umno will defend all its parliamentary and state seats which the party won during the previous polls.
Its president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Umno will not compromise with any quarters on all the seats won by the party in the 14th general election (GE14).
"This has been decided unanimously during the Umno Supreme Council meeting last year. And such a decision is not only the stance of the Supreme Council, but it also reflects the voice of the party's grassroots which want to make Umno a dominant entity after GE15.
"Being dominant does not mean that we are proud. This is our responsibility to return Umno into the backbone of the government administration," said Zahid in a social media posting on his official Facebook account.
Although Zahid did not identify any political leader or party when making these comments, it is widely understood that his posting is a response to the statement made by Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday.
The Pagoh member of parliament had said that the PN political pact would discuss seat allocation for GE15 without the involvement of Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno.
Muhyiddin, who is Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) president, said the approach was taken as the political bloc had yet to receive any clear sign from Umno and BN on the way forward over their future political cooperation.
Zahid said the victory of Umno, which he described as the largest Malay and political party in the country, is significant to ensure strength in the nation's administration and stability of its political landscape.
"Umno is aware there will be other parties which will contest in the same seats since this is a country that upholds democracy.
"Having said that, do not ever underestimate the strength of Umno and our grassroots."
He said the outcome of GE14 has shown that the people could differentiate between what was the truth and what was fake.
"They have seen clearly what happened after the last general election.
"Pisang tidak berbuah dua kali (a Malay saying which meaning similar to the English idiom that lightning never strikes twice). They (the people) had enough of what they had gone through after May 9 in 2018," he said.