KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 — Umno Women chief Datuk Seri Noraini Ahmad today urged all component parties of the unity government to work together to return the “original spirit of Merdeka” back to the country and hopes that the newly formed alliance will last forever.

Addressing more than 3,000 delegates from 19 component parties of the federal government, Noraini said she still cannot fathom that Pakatan Harapan (PH), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) counterparts are sitting on the same table to discuss the people’s wellbeing at the inaugural National Unity Government Convention here.

“Who would have thought that I could sit with Wanita Amanah chief Aiman Athirah Sabu, work and discuss with DAP National Women chief Chong Eng. This is a matter that we have started and will continue forever.

“With this large cooperation loaded with experience, this potential cannot be wasted.

“This is not the time for us to find fault and wrong, this is not the time for us to bring up our past, we need to focus on making this convention the starting point for a bigger agenda together,” she said in her speech.

Noraini said the alliance’s biggest test will be the state elections that will be held in Selangor, Penang, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu.

“The tasks and responsibilities awaiting us are very great, whatever the situation, the unity government now carries people's hope,” she said.

Right after Noraini, PH and Amanah’s Women chief Aiman Athirah took the stage and said that women have to be the pinnacle of ‘Malaysia Madani’ introduced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“Because Madani is a plan to make Malaysia progress as a whole, every introduction of development programmes designed, should increase the position of women.

“Every Madani programme that is designed must take into account that women are not ‘objects of development’, but are actually active participants in every process of progress,” she said in her speech.

Speaking to reporters later, Aiman Athirah said the cooperation is not only growing among the top leaders but also at the grassroots level.