In a Facebook post, A Kadir Jasin said keeping these leaders might not see Umno “dying” as a whole, but may leave it in the state of being barely alive.

He said Umno’s heavy loss in the 14th general election was caused by voters’ rejection of the Malay-Muslim party rather than actual attraction to Pakatan Harapan (PH).

He said this rejection was driven by the actions of various Umno leaders, citing the likes of incarcerated former prime minister Najib Razak and Zahid, who faces graft charges involving millions of ringgit.

“And this rejection of the actions of these Umno leaders still runs deep, as proven by the results of the 15th general election (GE15) last November.

“And with splinter parties like Bersatu working with PAS, Umno’s support has declined.

“In GE15, Umno candidates only received 13.55% of votes cast, which means that only 13 out of every 100 Malays voted for Umno.

“From the 109 seats it won in the 2004 general election, Umno only won 79 in 2008. This increased slightly to 88 in 2013 before dropping to 54 in 2018. Now, they only have 26,” he said.

Kadir said Umno could strengthen and rebuild itself by selecting a fresh lineup of leaders who could inspire confidence, with the goal of a long-term partnership with PH.

He suggested that Umno become a Malay component party in PH, claiming that this would be what Khairy Jamaluddin would do if he led the party.

Kadir, who used to be an Umno member up until 2015, said PH was no longer Umno’s competitor. Perikatan Nasional was its enemy now, he added.

On Tuesday, Khairy said there was a need for a long-term pact between Barisan Nasional and PH if both coalitions wanted to chart a more centrist course for Malaysia.

The former Umno Youth chief, who lost the contest for the party’s presidency to Zahid in 2018, said the coalition agreement signed between parties in the unity government was merely short-term despite its focus on reforms.