The resolution passed at Saturday's session of the Umno General Assembly to leave the top two leadership posts uncontested would give Umno some room to regroup and strategise, analysts say.
They also believe that the resolution that was passed puts Umno in a critical stage, opening the party to further splits within its ranks.
While the decision may not be celebrated by members who believe that it is undemocratic, it can help Umno to get things back in order, especially with six state elections just around the corner.
Universiti Utara Malaysia's Azizuddin Mohd Sani said history has shown that battles for the post of Umno president have always impacted the party negatively on its unity side.
One of the few examples of when this happened was in 1988, when a power struggle between Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Dr Mahathir Mohamad led to the original Umno party being banned, before Tengku Razaleigh formed Semangat 46 while Mahathir set up Umno Baru, which exists to this day.
"While we want to see democracy alive in every political party, this time around it is better for Umno not to have the top two party posts open for contests so that the leadership can work towards uniting (all factions) and create stability for the new government.
"I believe this was the rationale behind the Umno delegates' decision to support the 'no contest' motion so that they can focus on bringing unity in the party," Azizuddin told Malaysiakini.
According to the academician, the current political scenario is different from that in 2018, when the party election saw Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Khairy Jamaluddin and Tengku Razaleigh running for the post of Umno president post.
At that time, he said, the position was left vacant after Najib Abdul Razak resigned as Umno president following the party's defeat in the 14th general election.
Azizuddin believes that with Zahid's position in the party secured, he may now start efforts to bring back grassroots support to Umno under the party's cooperation with Pakatan Harapan.
Apart from making Zahid a deputy prime minister, he said the unity government led by Harapan chairperson Anwar Ibrahim had also given Zahid the portfolio of rural and regional development minister - a powerful tool for Umno to use to stay connected with the rural and semi-urban Malays.
"What Zahid has to do now is to rebuild the party with those loyal to him, and most importantly, with the support of Harapan.
"They have been quite open to giving him (Zahid) the opportunity. I think it would not be the same if Umno were to form the government with Perikatan Nasional, as they would be fighting for the same segment of voters."
Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, shared a similar sentiment, saying that Umno needs to be united after being trampled in the recent election.
However, unlike Azizuddin, Oh was not too optimistic about Saturday's resolution helping Umno in the long run.
"In the short term, it enables the party to focus on regrouping after the spectacular defeat by the green wave.
"In the long run, however, I am not sure it could significantly stem the green wave," he said, referring to PAS, which is one of the component parties in PN.
Oh said the Umno General Assembly that was concluded last Saturday also showed that Zahid now enjoys a solid command from the party's rank and file.
He believes that those not aligned with Zahid in Umno would have to wait before they could make an attempt to take over the party leadership.
"...but it would likely be a long wait," Oh added.
'Resolution may backfire on Zahid'
Meanwhile, a geopolitical strategy expert pointed out another possible scenario for Umno, saying that last Saturday's resolution may backfire on Zahid. - Mkini
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