Hamzah rejects possible Umno return

2026-03-09 - 14:04

Opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin with leaders of several political parties, including Bersatu, Gerakan, MIPP, MIC, Pejuang and PAS, at a breaking of fast event organised by the Larut MP. PUTRAJAYA: Opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin has dismissed the possibility of returning to Umno nearly eight years after leaving the party, saying his focus is on his “Reset” political movement. “There’s no need to return (to Umno),” he told reporters when met at a breaking of fast event he organised here tonight. The former Bersatu deputy president instead called on all parties, including Umno, to work with him under his “Reset” agenda, adding that many parties were already supporting his movement. “As you can see here, many parties are with me. So I want to focus on the people’s future. What’s important to me is that everyone agrees that we need a political reset,” said Hamzah. Among those at the event included Perikatan Nasional leaders like Gerakan president Dominic Lau, the Malaysian Indian People’s Party president P Punithan, PAS central committee member Awang Hashim and Bersatu vice-president Ronald Kiandee. Also present were MIC president SA Vigneswaran and Pejuang president Mukhriz Mahathir. Last week, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the party’s doors were “unconditionally” open to former members who had been sacked or suspended, and that all past mistakes would be forgiven in the spirit of Ramadan. Several figures have turned this down, including Mukhriz and former Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa, but former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin expressed interest in returning to the party. Hamzah was among the Umno leaders who left the party after Barisan Nasional’s fall from power in 2018. He joined Bersatu in February 2019. Hamzah was sacked from Bersatu on Feb 13 at the height of a leadership tussle with party president Muhyiddin Yassin.