Selangor BN convention today saw a rare admission of Umno's dependency on its coalition allies.

NONE Convention organising chairperson Mohd Zin Mohamed in his opening speech called on BN component parties to forge greater acceptance and mutual understanding.

He said that Umno alone cannot realise BN's ambitions.

“The Malays and Umno members will have to understand the fight and struggle of the Chinese and Indians, and in turn, they will also have to understand our struggle.

“The Malay problem is also a problem to the Chinese and the Indians. If this was our understanding in the formation of Barisan Nasional, why can’t we make that compromise now,” said Mohd Zin.

Mohd Zin said this during the maiden BN state convention held at the Shah Alam Convention Centre before about 1,500-strong audience.

His speech was part of Selangor BN's 'Selangor Takeover Plan (Stop)', to be launched by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak later this afternoon.

'1Malaysia as our core'

In an apparent to appeal for Umno grassroots to be ready to make compromises, Mohd Zin explained that their desire to wrest Selangor from Pakatan Rakyat must involve BN component parties.

NONE Elaborating, Mohd Zin said there were only four seats in the state to have a "truly Malay majority", which he defined as a constituency with more than 70 percent Malay voters.

“Even if it is an Umno seat, if we were to contest under the BN flag, but without the support of the other component parties, we cannot win,” he said.

Later, Mohd Zin turned his attention towards the upcoming Hulu Selangor by-election, where he again urged component parties to make compromises.

"If we believe in the 1Malaysia concept, we should not even think about which component party the candidate would come from," he said.

NONE Umno grassroots are lobbying intensely for their party to be allowed to field a candidate for the by-election, which has been contested by MIC since 1990.

Though it is increasingly likely that MIC's G Palanivel will be fielded again, there is worry that Umno grassroots would sabotage the BN campaign.