Umno tunjuk berani

Umno has displayed its boldness as Rosmah Mansor received a slap from representatives during the Umno Grand Assembly 2026 event, a gesture of their affection for former Prime Minister Najib Razak. After urging Rosmah to stand up to view the guests, Umno President Zahid Hamidi informed the representatives that there would be joyful news, referring to the forgiveness ceremony held the previous day.

These words were met with stronger slaps. It was widely known that the joyful news Zahid mentioned pertained to Najib's forgiveness request. However, the Department of Prime Minister’s Welfare later clarified that the Agong, Sultan Ibrahim, had postponed Najib's forgiveness request to the next assembly. The Agong presides over the Lembaga Pengampunan (Forgiveness Institution).

At the assembly, Sultan Ibrahim graciously pardoned 65 prisoners. It is unclear if Umno received news about the postponement—whether before or after the Umno assembly was postponed for Friday prayers. Nonetheless, Umno is displeased with the decision, regardless of the Agong's verdict. This is consistent with my previous writings that as long as Umno supports Najib and demands what they deem as fairness for his former presidency, the majority of the public will steer clear of Umno.

This is because the majority is satisfied that Najib has been given sufficient opportunities through every layer of the national court process, and they have already accepted his fairness. Nonetheless, Umno does not agree with this opinion and confidently anticipates winning the next PRU. In Umno's 2026 PAU speech, Zahid conveyed Umno's belief in achieving a mandate to form the government through the Blue Wave.

It was clearly stated whether the blue refers to the Barisan Nasional endorsed by Umno or the Perikatan Nasional endorsed by PAS. As we know, PAS made its decision last weekend. The gist is that our deputies want to preserve our SG4 constituency, and other constituencies want more seats and the prime minister position must be from us.

What about Zahid? I believe this article can be seen in the continuation of my FMT article from seven days ago. In his speech, Zahid referred to certain parties with the phrase "enough already" and gave an opportunity to us. It doesn't take a political analyst to know who he was referring to. Zahid also urged "enough already" to the teachers, listen to our voices, listen to the voices of the people, oh teachers, enough already.

I am sure the message Zahid conveyed is Umno's opinion. However, when he spoke about the voices of the people, I wondered when he or his party were speaking for the people? Nonetheless, Umno's confidence that it can form the government is driven by success in the upcoming PRN Johor and Negeri Sembilan, but with cooperation from PAS.

However, in Negeri Sembilan, Umno's administration is still unstable due to the adat crisis. As of now, Umno Vice President Mohamad Hasan, a native of Nismilan, has not commented. However, during the Pemuda, Wanita, and Puteri Umno meeting on Wednesday, he stated that Umno cannot rely on PH or PN. He did not elaborate. He said that unity among Malays can occur at any time but must be based on the House of Nation recommendation or initiated by Umno.

So, I quote FMT's report today, which says that analysts confirm Umno is not in a position to demand such a thing. Speaking of Umno's lack of strength, it seems like the opposite. I am interested in another FMT report from today, titled "Zahid is still an asset of Umno, but there are many unresolved issues." Analyst Sivamurugan Pandian notes that Umno's issues include the controversy over the Department of Rural and Regional Development's budget overseen by Zahid, the Haj Fund scandal, Felda, and the prolonged crisis in Negeri Sembilan.

Additionally, there are political issues. Zahid's comments have only increased Umno's problems. Pundits and analysts believe Zahid is a liability for Umno. However, for Khairy Jamaluddin, who has recently returned to Umno after being expelled, he interpreted Zahid's speech as a prime minister-in-waiting mandate. Zahid has recently been urging Anwar to hold early elections (PRU16) for momentum after winning in Johor and Negeri Sembilan.

For example, I took Astro Awani's report on August 27, 2022, where Zahid called for early elections (PRU15) to honor the people's mandate. I quote FMT's report from August 27, 2022. This demand and insistence are because Umno is on a high and confident of winning the election. Ismail eventually yielded, and PRU15 was held on November 15, 2022.

What happened to Umno? This article is the writer's opinion and does not necessarily reflect FMT's stance.