Umno's pact with PAS may not be enough, reform needed, says former Youth vice-chief

PETALING JAYA: While the Umno's partnership with PAS is formidable, it may not be enough to win back Malaysia, says Senator Khairul Azwan Harun (pic).

"While I have been supportive of our partnership with PAS, I fear that the past three by-election victories have made us complacent in figuring out a new path and identity for Umno," said the former Umno Youth vice chief.

Barisan has won the Semenyih, Cameron Highland and Rantau by-elections recently.

Khairul said the alliance with PAS has somewhat stalled Umno's soul-searching.

He added that Umno needs to continue restructuring, as well as getting rid of money politics, blind loyalty and extremist opinions.

A lot more needs to be done to tackle this.

"There is still four years to go," he said in a statement Wednesday (May 8) on the eve of the one-year anniversary of Barisan Nasional's loss in the general election last May.

He said that Umno was still dependent on the failure of Pakatan Harapan, instead of rebranding itself as a significant choice for voters.

Khairul argued that Umno needs to transform soon or the party would be in trouble as the Pakatan government will continue to improve.

"My predictions are that within the next year, Pakatan will probably get its act together," he said, adding that this includes DAP learning how to appease Malay voters.

"When that happens, Umno will be in trouble," Khairul said.