Former Universiti Teknologi Malaysia lecturer Azmi Hassan said the people are evaluating the government based on the performance of the ministers and their parties.
Therefore, he said, this is an opportune time to give voters a positive perception of Umno, as a party capable of leading the government better than the current administration.
“If you leave the government now, you will get nowhere because a general election cannot be held at this time, but the impact on the people is huge because it will give people the perception that Umno is more committed to the party agenda than the national agenda,” he told FMT.
Azmi said that Umno Cabinet members should “use their positions to show that ministers and deputy ministers from their party are in a different class, compared with ministers from PAS and PPBM or Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS)”.
On Sunday, at the Umno general assembly, the party decided to end its cooperation with PN component party PPBM in the GE15.
Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the delegates had given the Supreme Council a mandate to decide when the party would withdraw support for the PN government, particularly if there was no indication of when GE15 would be held.
Socio-political analyst Awang Azman Awang Pawi from Universiti Malaya said the Umno Supreme Council must expedite the finalising of the decision made at the general assembly.
“The Supreme Council needs to have a clear plan of action on the motion approved at the assembly, which directs elected representatives and their leaders to resign from the government.
“This is important to ensure that all decisions are complied with and there are no irregularities.”
Sulaiman Yassin from Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia agreed, saying Umno needed to make a drastic decision to restore its image by holding party elections as soon as possible so that the names of the top leaders in the “court cluster” – those facing legal cases – could be cleared.
“Many Umno members and top leaders are in the ‘court cluster’ and they should step down so new Supreme Council members can be elected immediately.
“The new Supreme Council needs to find a consensus to maintain relations with PN or withdraw from the pact. Most importantly, it must be brave enough to make a decision,” he said.