KUALA LUMPUR: The Unity Government’s resilience is due to the understanding and compatibility between coalition parties, says Datuk Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
"It is not easy to maintain this cooperation. The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and I have known each other for almost 40 years, dating back to our time in Umno
"I was the Umno Youth chief at the time, while he was the Umno deputy president before being dismissed in 1998," he said in an interview for a podcast on Sunday (Feb 2)
The Umno president said despite hardships and struggles, such as being detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in 1998, he remains loyal to Umno.
He said that before agreeing to join the unity government, which was formed under the decree of the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Barisan National and Umno had set 10 conditions.
"The four key conditions that had to be agreed upon were the status of Islam as the religion of the Federation, the special rights of the Malays, the position of the Malay race, and the sovereignty of the Malay Rulers.
"Pakatan Harapan (PH) accepted all these conditions without objection," he said.
Ahmad Zahid hoped that the understanding built over the last 25 months in the unity government would continue until it completed its full term.
He stated that it is important for there to be no policy conflicts within the government and expressed his belief that stability would be maintained.
