Mohamad, who is commonly known as Tok Mat, said the people needed to understand that Umno and the government were separate entities because the party was not running the government on its own.

“There are party policies that the government cannot support, and there are government policies that are not in line with the party’s stand,” he said in an interview with Umno Online.

One such policy, he said, was the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government and Pakatan Harapan leaders to bring about “political stability and transformation”.

“Many people ask us about the MoU when the party still says ‘No Anwar, No DAP’ and ‘No Bersatu’ for the next election.”

He said Umno remained firm in its “No Anwar, No DAP” stand as resolved in the party’s annual general meeting.

Mohamad said he understood the rationale for the political pact. It was better if the government called for a political ceasefire to ensure it could focus on managing the country especially with the pandemic and economic recovery.

“The PM cannot always be wondering whether he has majority support. So now there is an agreement in place until next July, so the government or PM does not need to worry and the Cabinet can focus on managing the country and the Covid-19 crisis,” he said.