“Umno broke into team A and team B in 1987, that is an old story, in 1988 Umno was banned,” he said. “Five years after that, there was a problem tied to the Chief Justice, while there were also incidents in 1998, 2003 and 2008.”

Now, Najib Razak was being tested, after five or six years as Umno president and prime minister.

Ahmad Zahid, the party vice-president, is carrying out the duties of deputy president after Muhyiddin Yassin was suspended by the party’s Supreme Council last week.

He was speaking at the joint opening of the annual delegates meetings of Perak Umno branches and the Wanita, Youth and Puteri wings today.

Perak Umno leader Zambry Abd Kadir said all Umno members must concede that the party would not be free from facing problems.

“Don’t let there be a syndrome of denial of an absence of problems. As a party which is always moving forward, there are always problems and challenges but what is most important is how we face them,” he said.

He said more challenging was that Umno had to not only face enemies from the outside but also from within the party.

“In a struggle, we must ensure the ship Umno is not torn asunder. In Perak, thank God, we are always together because unity among members is the most important foundation of our struggle,” Zambry added.

– BERNAMA