Umno Supreme Council member Isham Jalil said although the party is in the unity government with DAP, “the heart of Umno’s grassroots still needs to be preserved”.

“We cannot lose our voter base. (If) we want to win new votes but lose our existing ones, we’re finished.

“There’s no need to praise DAP too much or else our supporters will be discouraged, and that will be a problem for us. So, stop telling our people to vote for DAP,” he said in a Facebook Live broadcast today.

Last week, Umno Supreme Council member Ahmad Maslan said party members should look at DAP candidates in the upcoming state elections as representing the unity government rather than the party itself.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi then said he is aware that party members are still finding it difficult to accept DAP as an ally in the unity government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, but he is willing to meet and explain the cooperation between Umno and DAP to them.

Isham, a former Umno information chief, said the six state elections will be crucial in determining the level of support the federal government enjoys.

“So, if this experiment fails, what will happen next? If we have a problem, the unity government will have a problem, too.

“The distribution of seats among parties in the unity government, especially between the PH components and Umno, will go a long way in proving their sincerity,” he said.

While he is confident DAP can win seats in its strongholds without the help of Umno voters, he said he is concerned about voter turnout in the Malay-majority seats which Umno, PKR and Amanah usually target.

“When we used to be against PH in the past, voters who didn’t like PH voted for us. But now that we’re with PH, will Malay voters want to vote for us or not?” he said.

PH-led Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Penang, and PAS-controlled Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu are expected to hold their state elections after June.