‘UMNO’ could tip the ‘Scales’ at Sg Kandis polls

The party may for the first time ditch the Barisan Nasional logo, hoping to woo Malay voters in the wake of its historic general election defeat.

The red Malay Jawi calligraphy which reads Pekembar, the Malay acronym for Umno.

PETALING JAYA: Umno is mulling using its own logo to contest the Sungai Kandis by-election next month, the first time the party is ditching the “scales” symbol of the Barisan Nasional, the coalition it led for decades before its shock defeat last May.

It is believed that the proposal will be raised at the party’s next Supreme Council meeting.

The Sungai Kandis state seat in Selangor has been left vacant following the death of its incumbent from PKR, Mat Shuhaimi Shafie, last week.

A source close to the Malay party said using the red Umno logo, which reads “Pekembar” written in Malay Jawi calligraphy, could give the party an advantage over the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the Malay-majority state seat.

Pekembar is the Malay acronym for Umno, or the United Malays National Organisation.

“Many Umno members feel it is good to test waters especially after the dismal results in May 9 elections. If the results are good, they may want to ditch the Dacing symbol altogether,” the source told FMT.

The source said there was also nothing to stop Umno from using its own logo.

“We are a registered party.”

BN is now left with only Umno, MCA and MIC, after component parties in Sarawak as well as Gerakan left the coalition following its defeat in the polls.

The membership of another party, MyPPP, is largely irrelevant as the party was not allocated any seat in the last election.

The source added that MCA and MIC could also go on its own in future, although all three may retain a loose electoral pact between them.

“The only working relation they are planning is to avoid direct competition with one another during elections,” it said.

In the May polls, Umno won 47 parliamentary seats, while MIC won two, and MCA one.

But three Umno MPs have since announced they were quitting the party. -FMT