Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara said Zahid, who is BN chairman and Umno president, was not being overly optimistic, but was attempting to highlight Umno’s intention to be in the driver’s seat.

“The only way to become dominant is to contest as many seats as possible,” he told FMT.

Azmi said Zahid’s remarks were also meant to complement the statement by Umno vice-president Johari Ghan that Umno was no longer the dominant political force it once was.

Zahid had said BN was almost certain to go solo in GE16, although it would not contest all 222 parliamentary seats. He said BN would contest seats it could win and avoid clashes with friendly parties, adding that multi-cornered fights would only hurt all coalitions.

Syaza Shukri of International Islamic University Malaysia said Zahid’s remarks were meant to boost confidence among the grassroots by signalling that Umno could go it alone.

But Zahid also understood the current realities, when he said that the party could not dismiss the need to forge a pact with other coalitions, she said.

“Johari reminding members that Umno is nowhere near where it used to be 20 years ago is good, but we must also understand that Zahid, as the president, has to show strength and confidence,” she said, adding that many in Umno were also aware of the predicament the party was in when it came to being a dominant force.

James Chin of the University of Tasmania said Zahid’s statement was part of the usual positioning by political leaders before an election.

“You should not take anything said by political leaders too seriously at this stage, including Zahid, because they are all in the process of positioning their parties or coalitions for the coming election.”

Chin said Umno had not shown that Malay voter support was returning to Umno after having deserted the party at the ballot box in two general elections. It was PAS that appeared to be attracting more Malay voters, Chin said.