KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 — Umno’s Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah wants fellow party members serving the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration to quit their government positions immediately.

The Umno veteran said the ministers, their deputies and heads of government-linked companies who were appointed to their positions should resign since their party has made it clear it will not work with Bersatu-led PN coalition in the next election.

He said Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi made this very clear this morning in his policy speech at their party’s 75th annual general assembly when he declared the party will contest the general election on its own under the Barisan Nasional (BN) banner.

"It was a good policy speech as it is clear and stern. It is as if he did not only receive but responded to suggestions from party divisions that have convened and stressed again what was decided by the supreme council to sever ties with Bersatu.

"This means all of the Umno members who are serving as minister, deputy ministers, heads of GLCs must resign today,” Razaleigh told reporters after the speech.

Umno is not a component of the PN coalition but had agreed to an informal working relation after they both teamed up to remove the elected Pakatan Harapan government from federal power in early 2020.

However, the Umno-Bersatu partnership has repeatedly been fraught with disagreements. In February, the Umno supreme council declared that it would end its cooperation in GE15, which many anticipate will be called this year after the nationwide Emergency is lifted.

Tengku Razaleigh was among the first in Umno to withdraw support for Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in his capacity as prime minister.

When asked about BN’s odds in contesting GE15 on its own, the Gua Musang MP said the coalition has always competed on its steam in all previous elections.

"We have always gone solo before this,” he said followed by a light laugh.

"If we are not confident, how could we even compete?” he quipped.

He added that he has full confidence that BN will be well received by voters in the next national election.