“If there is any disagreement, just refer to the Societies Act 1966. It is an act that was approved by Parliament. Hence, we can hand it back to Parliament if we want the law to be amended,” he told reporters here last night.

Zahid said this when asked to comment on a TikTok video by former Rembau MP, Khairy Jamaluddin, who was not satisfied with home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s decision to grant an exemption to Umno in accordance with Section 70 of the Societies Act 1966 (Act 832), over the no-contest motion for the top two posts which was tabled and passed in the party’s general assembly in January.

On Umno’s future, Zahid said he expects the party’s new leadership line-up, after the party polls, to work with him to translate the implementation of the party’s new direction.

He added that the direction, which has 21 steps, will be announced and realised following the Umno election on March 18.

“We hope that Umno has no more thorns in its flesh. Hopefully, everyone will stand united as one team,” he said.

Regarding cooperation with other parties to face the state elections, the deputy prime minister said that Umno will hold internal discussions for three days, starting tonight, in each state involved.

The six states that will hold state elections this year are Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Selangor, Terengganu, Kelantan and Kedah.