KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi stepped up his calls to voters to "save Umno” this afternoon as the clock counts down the last remaining hours to 11.59pm when campaigning must stop for the 15th general election.

On the eve of polling day, the Umno president alleged that the Malay nationalist party’s existence was in grave danger from its political enemies if Barisan Nasional (BN) does not win tomorrow.

He claimed these enemies were Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Parti Pejuang Tanahair chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"Save Umno from the attempt to ban it.

"One vote for Muhyiddin Yassin and Mahathir and their allies is one vote for the attempt to ban Umno after this election,” he wrote in a lengthy Facebook post today.

Zahid, who is seeking reelection in the Bagan Datuk parliamentary seat in Perak, claimed that the two former prime ministers have been gunning to end Umno after BN lost the 14th general election in 2018.

He claimed they told him to dissolve Umno so there would only be one Malay party. In 2018, both Muhyiddin and Dr Mahathir were top leaders in Bersatu, still a component of the Pakatan Harapan coalition that took power back then.

Zahid also said the criminal and corruption charges against him in court came after he rebuffed both men’s bid to shutter Umno.

In recent days, Umno has taken action against some of its party division leaders whom the top leadership accused of colluding with PN.

On November 13, Umno temporarily suspended two Wanita chiefs — from the Arau and Maran divisions — for allegedly directly or indirectly supporting PN candidates.

Several Umno operation centres in certain areas nationwide were also reported to have been closed down or unmanned after nomination day on November 5, as some candidates were not endorsed by the party’s division and grassroots.