KUALA LUMPUR: Political hypocrisy has reached a new level, warned Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He took aim at a rival party now stoking racial and religious sentiment, despite previously aligning with DAP for nearly a decade.
"Let's not forget - those who are now eager to provoke religious and racial emotions were the very ones who once stood alongside DAP in Barisan Alternatif and Pakatan Rakyat.
"They even formed a government with DAP in 2018, going so far as to abandon their own principles by contesting under the PKR logo," he said during Umno’s 79th anniversary address on Sunday (May 11).
Zahid added that, unlike Umno, which never compromised on its values, the opposition party in question had once allowed its members to pray outside DAP offices and even exalted DAP leaders to the stature of revered Islamic caliphs.
"Umno has never allowed its members to perform prayers in front of DAP offices. We’ve never elevated any DAP leader to the maqam of Khalifah Umar Abdul Aziz.
"Ironically, when Umno worked with MCA and MIC, we were once labelled infidels.
"Now, the same party copies the very model we practised - but hides behind religious rhetoric. That is political hypocrisy of the highest order," he said.
Although he did not name the party directly, it is widely believed Zahid was referring to PAS.
He urged Umno members to resist being swayed by these sentiments and reaffirmed that all major decisions within the party are made through collective consultation, not individual ambition.
"Let us not fall into the trap of perception and sentiment. Our perspectives may differ, but we must move in unison if we are to regain the rakyat’s trust," he said.
Zahid also signalled openness to those seeking to return to Umno, saying the party is willing to welcome them - so long as their intentions are "sincere".
He called for Umno to rise as a forward-looking political movement grounded in three key pillars: politik solusi (solution-based politics), politik legasi (legacy-building), and politik moderasi (moderate politics).
"Today’s rakyat want practical resolutions. They’re tired of hollow rhetoric.
"We must produce bold, competent, critically thinking successors and remain a centrist, rational force that unites, not divides," he added.
