He said the decision would be notified to the Registrar of Societies (RoS) to avoid any problems. The registrar had previously set a deadline of Dec 29 for the delayed party elections to be held.

“As the chairman of the management committee, I need to take action to ensure that what has been decided will come about,” he said.

Mohamad, better known as Tok Mat, said he feared the party would face constraints as the RoS was under the purview of a minister who is not from Umno. (The home ministry, which oversees RoS, is under Hamzah Zainudin, who is secretary-general of Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional.)

“I will ask the prime minister to look into the matter … I hope there will be no one standing in our way,” he said at the Umno general assembly at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur.

Mohamad said the postponement was needed to avoid disunity in the party ahead of the general election. “History clearly shows that when there are party elections, there is division among members. We do not want a split in the party,” he said.