Ketereh Umno division leader Annuar Musa today urged MPs from Barisan Nasional (BN) who won their seats at the recently concluded election to remain as the opposition bloc in the Dewan Rakyat.
He said BN and the 30 MPs who had won did not need to negotiate or work with any other group, in particular the component parties of Pakatan Harapan (PH), as had been decided at the Umno general assembly last year which resolved to hold to the coalition's "No Anwar, no DAP" stand.
"We prefer to receive the mandate of the people for Umno to go solo and form the opposition," he said at a press conference with other Umno division leaders at the World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur.
The former Ketereh MP also agreed with Batu Umno chief Yahya Mat Ghani, who said there was nothing wrong with BN and Umno becoming the opposition in the Dewan Rakyat.
"Other parties have been the opposition for 50 to 60 years. Why can't we?" he said.
The Umno division leaders also criticised the description of BN as a "kingmaker", with Annuar saying that the coalition and Umno had been formed to guard the interests of the people, especially the Malays.
"It was not to help anyone else become 'leaders'," he said, referring to PH chairman Anwar Ibrahim.
"Our struggle is not to be a kingmaker to determine who becomes the prime minister and forms the government," he said.
"That is not our mission. We are confident that in five years' time, Umno will be back."