He said that after Umno’s poor performance in the six state elections in August last year, the Malays lost confidence in the party.

“Following that, we have also come around to accepting that if we want to win (in elections), we need the support of the non-Malays.

“We need to get rid of that notion. If we believe that we need non-Malay support to win, then Umno is no longer relevant. Umno is a party for the Malays,” he said on the Keluar Sekejap podcast.

Ismail, who is a former prime minister, said he did not want to see Umno ending up like its former allies, such as Gerakan.

“Although it was considered a multiracial party, it was still seen as a Chinese party,” he said, adding that Umno must have its strength rooted in Malay-majority seats.

Previously, analysts had said Barisan Nasional’s (BN) decision to dissuade its unity government ally DAP from campaigning in the Nenggiri by-election was one of the factors that contributed to the coalition’s win.

It was previously reported that some Umno members remained uneasy over BN’s alliance with DAP.

In the run-up to the by-election, Umno’s election director for Nenggiri, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, said there was no need for DAP to campaign on the ground as the constituency was 100% Malay.

Let all return if sincere about Umno unity

Ismail also said if Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was sincere about uniting the party, he should let everyone who was suspended or sacked from the party be automatically reinstated without needing to submit an appeal or applying to rejoin.

In July, Zahid said the party was open to the return of any former member into its fold. However, he said their re-entry must first be approved by the party’s disciplinary board and political bureau.

Prominent Umno leaders such as Khairy Jamaluddin, Noh Omar and Isham Jalil had been given the boot since last year. The party also suspended former minister Hishammuddin Hussein and former information chief Shahril Hamdan.