SERDANG, Aug 15 — Umno will conduct a post-mortem to identify weaknesses that contributed to it losing most of the seats it contested in the six state elections on Saturday (August 12), said party vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

Commenting on calls for Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to step down following Umno’s poor showing in the state polls, Mohamed Khaled, who is also the minister of higher education, said there were many factors that could have influenced the election results.

"Let things settle (first), we will conduct a post-mortem and find our weaknesses,” he said, adding that calls for Ahmad Zahid to step down were only a short-term measure and an excuse for the party’s defeat in the state polls.

Umno, which represents Barisan Nasional (BN), won only 19 out of the 108 State Legislative Assembly seats it contested in the six state polls. BN won 14 seats in Negeri Sembilan, two each in Selangor and Penang, one in Kelantan and failed to win any in Kedah and Terengganu.

"Perhaps, for Umno voters, this is the first time they are working as a team while previously they used to fight against one another. This will all take time and only time will tell,” Mohamed Khaled told reporters after the launch of the 2023 National Food Security Conference here today.

Earlier, while speaking at the launch, Mohamed Khaled asked the participants to present five big ideas that can be game-changers for the country’s food security which, among others, touch on proposed short- and long-term strategies.

"Find new mechanisms or methods that are radical, practical and can really bring changes. However, we must drive and give added value in terms of food security and sustainable agriculture,” he said.

The conference will carry out intensive discussions on national food security issues aimed at forging collaboration among public and private institutions towards achieving sustainable agriculture and stable food security.

Themed "Kelestarian Produktiviti Makanan Negara” (Sustainability of National Food Productivity), the conference brought together over 400 participants that included policymakers, academics, researchers and entrepreneurs and will produce a resolution paper on the food security agenda to be handed over to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. — Bernama