On the eve of Umno's routing from power anniversary, senator Khairul Azwan Harun delivered an ominous message.

He warned that if Umno failed to reform itself by next year, an improved Pakatan Harapan could render the party which served as the backbone of the once impregnable BN coalition irrelevant.

"My predictions are that within the next year, Harapan will probably get their act together.

"DAP, for all their dumbness, will eventually learn how to appease the Malay voters.

"And when that happens, Umno will be in trouble. It would be too late for us," he said in a statement this evening.

Umno and its ally PAS have often used DAP as a bogeyman to spook the Malay electorate, accusing the party of wanting to undermine the position of Islam and the Malays.

DAP, whose leaders are forced to make repeated denials on this issue, is also accused of being the real power behind Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's administration.

On the other hand, MCA, in his bid to sway Chinese voters, consistently portrays DAP and its once vociferous leaders as being subservient to Mahathir.

Meanwhile, Khairul pointed out that the changes implemented by Umno since the last general election have been minimal.

He noted that Umno appeared to be too dependent on Harapan's failures as a government instead of rebranding itself as a viable choice for the people.

Khairul said while Umno's partnership with PAS is "formidable", it would not be sufficient to reclaim federal power.

"Fundamentally, Umno needs to continue restructuring, getting rid of money politics, blind loyalty, and extreme opinions.

"A lot more needs to be done to tackle this. There are still four years to go. A lot can happen," he added.