In Putrajaya, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim suggested that Umno should engage regularly with grassroots members and the public to address issues affecting the party, particularly its relationship with DAP. Anwar, who is also the president of PKR and the chairman of Pakatan Harapan, believes that this is crucial for revitalizing the party, which appears to be losing support.
He stated, “They do not hate Umno, but among Umno supporters, they say Umno has veered off track by cooperating with DAP. I think the anti-DAP sentiment is strong among the Malays. Umno’s problem is because it is on good terms with DAP, and it has to explain this issue because DAP represents the majority of Chinese,” Anwar said. This was during a dialogue session with editors-in-chief and senior editors of the electronic, print and online media on Dec 23.
He responding to a question from The New Straits Times Press group managing editor Datuk Ahmad Zaini Kamaruzzaman on whether Pakatan would still need Umno to face the 16th general election as support for the latter was seen to be declining.
Anwar noted that ties between Pakatan parties and Umno were now very strong, stating, “At my age, I’m not comfortable with any activities of betrayal. I trust the leadership; they (Umno) have been very supportive and working relations are also very good.”
“If Umno goes to the ground as they are doing now, I am confident it can be rejuvenated and now there are signs of this,” he added, speaking during the dialogue session. This was reported by Bernama.
