The party held its celebrations in the Johor palace where it was founded, signalling it is back on track ahead of coming state polls
Umno was thrown into the political wilderness in 2018 after six decades in power, rejected by voters angered by rising living costs and allegations of widespread corruption in that year’s watershed national election.
Umno is now preparing to defend its overwhelming majority in the southern states of Johor and Melaka in state polls that party insiders expect will be held in the second half of this year, as a warm up for a national election due by early 2028 at the latest.
And the move to celebrate Umno’s 80th anniversary in Johor on Monday was the clearest indication yet of its ambition to recapture a vote base lost to a Malay nationalist opposition coalition wracked by infighting.
Source: News - South China Morning Post
