At the other end of the spectrum is Umno, which won just over 17 per cent of the seats it contested and dropped to 19 assemblymen, from 41, in these six states.
Opinions within the once-dominant party on what went wrong and the way forward are diverse, ranging from calls for Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi to resign the presidency, to lack of cohesion in the Umno-led Barisan Nasional’s (BN) cooperation with PH.
“To chase 500 DAP votes, we lost 5,000 Malay votes in the process. If we lose our grassroots, the party will be dead,” supreme council member Isham Jalil claimed. He was referring to the Democratic Action Party, the largest party in PH and former Umno foe.
But Tengku Zafrul Aziz, a fellow council member and the Investment Trade and Industry Minister, called the result “a final warning for Umno’s political survival”.
“Umno doesn’t belong to any clique. I hope the party leadership is roused to correct our course, not just chasing short term power but to regain the trust of the public and our own grassroots,” he said.
Must do better: Datuk Seri Azmin Ali
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysian-state-polls-winners-losers-and-those-who-must-do-better Malaysian state polls: Winners, losers and those who must do better