RSIS Seminar by Shahril Hamdan and Bastien Onn

With its worst outing in the 15th General Election in November 2022 and subordinate role in the Anwar Administration, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) appears to be headed towards terminal decline.

Indeed, Malaysia’s Grand Old Party and the multi-racial coalition, Barisan Nasional, it leads have lost steady support among the electorate in more than a decade. No serious internal review of its performance has been made public and it has stuck to the same leadership and ethos, forgoing multiple opportunities for course change and renewal. Can UMNO win again on its old brand particularly with interlopers like Bersatu and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) snapping at its heels?

This seminar aims to assess where UMNO is today, in terms of its leadership, values, membership, and voters. It also seeks to project the party’s trajectory on these fronts in the coming year.