Unity government? Issue closed, says Zahid

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the issue of the party becoming part of a unity government is "closed".

"No, no, unity government issue is closed, okay, as I explained just now in my closing speech," Zahid said at a press conference after the close of the Umno general assembly today.

He did not elaborate on what he meant.

Previously, Zahid had said that he is willing to partner Umno with any Pakatan Harapan party to form a unity government.

In his closing speech earlier, Zahid said that Umno will focus on becoming part of a strong opposition.

However, he said Umno must also be open to any possibilities of being a government in waiting, as anything can happen in any by-election.

"We have to strengthen the opposition movement with other parties. God willing, with the amount of support given to Umno-BN, added with that from our friends in the opposition, God willing we would have more than five million voters ready to be with us."

Zahid said the number of supporters may be even higher when added with voters who feel duped by the Harapan government.

"But some say that Umno being the government in waiting is not possible, but we must understand that there is no specific timeline (for us to become government).

"We have to have that hope, whether it happens in five years, or tomorrow.

"We don't know what will happen in any by-election, and we don't know what will happen after any by-election. As we don't know, we must therefore have an open heart to accept any changes," he said.

Zahid's push for a unity government was first revealed in an NSTP interview on Thursday.

Last night in his policy speech, he said that Harapan will eventually reach out to Umno as the coalition may break up anytime due to infighting.

However, there has been strong opposition in the party towards the unity government plan, even from his own deputy Mohamad Hasan.

Mohamad in his closing speech just before the president's, told delegates to stop dreaming about a unity government. -Mkini