UMNO veteran Mustapha Yaakub questioned the whereabout and function of the Supreme Council members when it comes to making clear of the Umno and DAP cooperation in the Unity Government.

He said their responsibility in explaining the issue to grassroots is very minimal, hence making the party members and the people to dislike the cooperation.

He was commenting on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim statement that Umno must work harder to win the people as it political grip is loosening.

Anwar also advised Umno to go to the ground regularly to explain to grassroots members and the people regarding several issues affecting the party, especially its good ties with DAP.

Anwar, who is also PKR president and Pakatan Harapan chairman, said Umno needed to do this if it wanted to rejuvenate the party, which seemed to be losing support.

“They do not hate Umno but among Umno supporters, they say Umno has veered off track by cooperating with DAP.

“I think the anti-DAP sentiment is strong among the Malays. Umno’s problem is because it is on good terms with DAP, and it has to explain this issue because DAP represents the majority of Chinese,” he said.

Anwar said this at a dialogue session with editors-in-chief and senior editors of the electronic, print and online media here on Saturday (Dec 23).

He said this in response to a question from The New Straits Times Press group managing editor Datuk Ahmad Zaini Kamaruzzaman on whether Pakatan would still need Umno to face the 16th general election as support for the latter was seen to be declining.