Tok Mat hints Umno might break with Pakatan for GE16, depending on its chances
KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan has indicated that the Malay nationalist party might part ways with the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition depending on whether it can regain public support in the next few years.
Nicknamed Tok Mat, Mohamad said Umno is not bound by any agreement to partner with any specific party come the next election and had only agreed to join the current ruling coalition to form a government, Sinar Harian reported today.
“Right now, we need a strong and solid government.
“Some say we will partner with PH, but if Pengerang, Kota Tinggi and Tenggara can give us victory in GE16, we’re not staying with them,” he was quoted as saying at the Tenggara Umno divisional meet in Dewan Sri Sayong in the Felda Sri Sayong Settlement near Kota Tinggi, Johor.
The next general election must be called by early 2028.
Umno, the anchor party of the Barisan Nasional coalition, won 30 parliamentary seats in the 15th general election two years ago, a distant third place behind PH and the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalitions.
Neither PH with its 81 parliamentary seats nor PN with 73 (back then) met the simple majority-criterion of 112 seats to form the government alone.
In the end, BN agreed to partner PH and other coalitions in Sarawak and Sabah to take federal power after the palace called for a unity government to break the political impasse.
