COMMENT | What are the options left for Umno for now till GE16 after its humiliating defeat, worse than in GE14?

Some Umno leaders have called for the party to stay out of government as opposition. Whatever decisions are made today or this week, they must be revisited in the Umno party election, latest by May 19, 2023, or before or after the state elections in the six states – three each under PN and Pakatan Harapan – expected by or before next August.

Whether multiparty democracy can grow healthily may partly depend on how Umno reinvents itself or allow itself to be gradually swallowed by other parties. In this election, BN won the support of 3.4 million votes or 22.20 percent and like it or not, a brand name for Malay-Muslim nationalist/conservative voters.

Umno’s choices can be split into two levels. First, should it join a coalition government or stay out as an opposition bloc on...