KUALA LUMPUR — Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said delegates at the party annual assembly have supported his idea to form an informal grouping comprising all Malay-Muslim parties that will “be beyond Muafakat Nasional”.
Calling it a “grand collaboration”, the deputy prime minister said it would be an informal entity and not a political coalition, although it would discuss law, politics and other common issues of interest to Malays and Islam.
He also promised Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that the grouping would not destabilise the unity government.
“It will only be a collaboration, not a coalition.
“And I stress that it will have no intention of disturbing the stability of the unity government,” Zahid said at a press conference after the closing of the Umno general assembly for 2025 at the World Trade Centre today.
Asked if he had informed Anwar of such a plan, Zahid said yes, and that the Prime Minister, who heads the Pakatan Harapan coalition, understood the intent.
Zahid, who is also Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman, said the idea of a grand collaboration had also come from Umno members and divisions.
“Umno, as a leading Malay-Muslim party, will make the move of inviting all the leaders of major Malay-Muslim political parties and NGOs to take this proactive and strategic step to join forces, even though it will just be a loose collaboration.”
Zahid added that the entity would not be called Muafakat Nasional as this name was already registered with the Registrar of Societies. Muafakat Nasional had once been a platform for political cooperation between Umno and its rival PAS, but is no longer functional as Umno is now part of Anwar’s government.
Following Zahid’s press conference, Umno information chief Datuk Sri Azalina Othman Said reiterated that the grand collaboration proposal “is not to be a political coalition and has no intention of replacing the Madani unity government”.
“It will only be a platform for consultation and collaboration on common issues such as Malay interests and Islam.
“Umno is still committed to national stability, unity and the sustainability of the Madani government,” Azalina said in a statement.
Earlier, in his winding up speech after delegates’ debates, Zahid said Anwar needed to trust Umno for the sake of political cooperation.
“We have no agenda, trust us to decide…If you don’t trust Ahmad Zahid, who else would you trust?” New Straits Times reported Zahid saying. Zahid also said that Umno and BN’s support was what enabled Anwar to become prime minister.
Zahid also told Umno members that Anwar had to deal with the pressure of different demands from parties in his government, including from his own party, PKR.
“So, we can’t expect that everything Umno asks for to be fulfilled,” he said.
The four-day Umno assembly had agreed to postpone internal elections till after the 16th general election. – January 17, 2026