Infighting within Umno was the major cause that led to the party's downfall in the May 9 general election, claimed Umno supreme council member Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.

The internal bickering factor superceded the voters' anger over national issues like the goods and services tax (GST), Nazri was quoted as saying by The Malaysian Insight (TMI).

“We don’t know what the real reasons are. We have to wait for the empirical studies to be completed. But, I believe Umno lost in constituencies where there was internal bickering," he said.

Such feuds even caused members and supporters to work against the party, the Padang Rengas parliamentarian said.

“I didn’t expect Umno to lose so badly. I blame it on internal bickering because how do you explain them losing and me winning? I should have lost. I believe I won because my division was united," Nazri added.

He drew the conclusion from the parliamentary seats won by Umno in Perak, which included Bagan Datuk, Pasir Salak, Parit, Lenggong and Padang Rengas, claiming that the most stable divisions of Umno were located in these constituencies.

Citing the fall of Terengganu in the recent poll, Nazri said: "It was an open secret that the former menteri besar’s choice of candidates had failed to inspire confidence in the party’s members and supporters."

This was contrary to the views given by political analysts and even Umno politicians themselves over the drastic drop in Umno's parliamentary seats to 54, from 88 in 2013 general election.

They believe that Umno's defeat was also caused by the 1MDB scandal and the goods and services tax (GST).

“If you say national issues (are a major factor), it would have affected all seats. It's more (of) internal bickering, the split.

“If they say GST... rural folk were not affected. The sundry shops in villages that did not have an RM500,000 (annual) turnover... they didn’t have GST.

“So, it's not really national issues. But this is still subject to analysis," Nazri said.