Umno will not be able to withstand the “Malay tsunami” wave that is now sweeping through the heartlands that used to be its strongholds, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) president Muhyiddin Yassin said today.

As Umno embarks on its annual party division meetings, Muhyiddin said in a statement, he could sense that its senior leaders were becoming increasingly nervous and they retaliated by using the platform to launch attacks on him and Bersatu.

“What I described as a ‘trust deficit’ by the Malays towards Umno is happening fast.

“I believe that this wave of Malay distrust will evolve into a Malay tsunami in the 14th general election and will witness a change of government in its aftermath,” said Muhyiddin, who pointed out that thousands of people attended Bersatu’s Hari Raya open house in Malacca, the state dubbed as Umno’s next stronghold after Johor.

“That is why Umno leaders like Zahid Hamidi, Khairy Jamaluddin and Razali Ibrahim are seen to be increasingly worried. They were my friends when I was in Umno before,” said Muhyiddin, a former Umno deputy president.

Among others, he cited Zahid’s threat last Saturday to expose Bersatu chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s shameful past if Mahathir continued to criticise the government's leadership.

This was on top of Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin’s call for Mahathir to retire from politics, said Muhyiddin, adding that Umno Supreme Council member Razali Ibrahim had also out of the blue challenged him to stand in Muar. 

“I can sense that Umno leaders are becoming increasingly nervous. They know that the people and the Malays, including Umno grassroots members, are rejecting Umno.

“At every Bersatu's programme we have thousands of Malays in attendance and many from among them were Umno supporters,” he said. 

Commenting further, the Pagoh MP said the wave of resistance against Umno was also triggered by the party’s perceived shift from fighting for the rights of the people to protecting the interest of one party, namely its president Najib Abdul Razak. 

“At a time when the Malays are burdened by the mounting cost of living, Umno leaders are more concerned with defending their president who is implicated in a corruption scandal, rather than protecting the interests of the Malays,” he claimed. 

Muhyiddin, as such, insisted that there is no more reason for the Malays to continue supporting Umno and the majority have now shifted their support to Bersatu.