Azmi Hassan, a fellow at the National Council of Professors, said the former Umno vice-president has demonstrated his loyalty to the party, especially to its president, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, despite allegations made by various quarters.

“Umno should seize the opportunity to appreciate influential individuals like the former prime minister.

“Although Ismail is currently on the sidelines, he has shown that he does not speak ill of Umno and can help the party rise again,” he told FMT.

In the podcast Keluar Sekejap aired last Wednesday, Ismail, who is also Bera MP, said that he has always been a “party man” and represented the party’s voice in the government.

He added that he had no issues with the Umno leadership because his respect for Zahid as the president surpassed everything.

According to Ismail, this was especially so when he served as the country’s ninth prime minister from August 2021 to November 2022, despite only being party vice-president at that time.

Ismail replaced Muhyiddin Yassin, who became the eighth prime minister through the Sheraton Move in February 2020, when the latter led Bersatu, a group of rebel PKR MPs, Barisan Nasional (BN) and PAS to topple the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, which had been in power for 22 months.

Awang Azman Pawi from Universiti Malaya said Umno needs to focus on loyalty and reconciliation before assigning a member or a leader any major roles.

“This can be achieved through closed-door discussions or loyalty tests in critical political decisions,” he said.

“By ensuring loyalty to such leaders, Umno can reduce the risk of ‘silent support’ for PN in the future.”