Hishammuddin said he supported Najib’s effort to restore the political fortunes of Umno and the Barisan Nasional. Time would tell whether he could succeed.

He said Najib or others could even return to a leading role in the party so long as the party was the priority and not personal interests.

“But if they do anything contrary to Umno’s struggle or take advantage of the prevailing circumstances for self-interest, we will speak out, he said when opening the Kota Melaka Wanita Umno divisional meeting.

Najib was appointed chairman of the BN advisor board on July 9. His appointment comes a year after he stepped down from party leadership following BN’s loss of power at the 2018 general election.

He has been charged with several counts of corruption, abuse of power and money laundering but has managed to revive his personal support base by going to the ground and meeting the people as part of his “Bossku” campaign.