THE 2023 DAP congress made history when Ahmad Zahid Hamidi became the first Umno president to attend the gathering after decades of rivalry between the two parties.

The deputy prime minister, who is also Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman, arrived as the guest of honour, alongside BN secretary-general Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and Umno secretary-general Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.

Umno and DAP are among the 19 component parties in the unity government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Parti Amanah Negara president Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu and PKR vice-president Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari were also present at event.

Since Umno was established on 11 May 1946 and DAP in 1966, the two parties have never established political cooperation for more than seven decades.

However, post-GE15 saw the wall of rivalry collapsed after Umno joined other political parties to form the government.

The move was taken after no coalition of political parties could form a government on their own as none has a simple majority in the Dewan Rakyat.

The establishment of the unity government was also formed on the advice of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.