Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said he will leave the party if Umno opens its membership to non-Malays. — Picture via Facebook/Mohamad Hasan

KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 ― Former Negri Sembilan mentri besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan has outright rejected a suggestion to open Umno's membership to non-Malays.

Mohamad who plans to run for Umno's deputy president post said he will leave the party if the proposal came to fruition.

“The Umno party was founded for the Malays.

“I do not agree with rumours that people want to make Umno a multi-racial party.

“If that happens, I will be the first to leave the party,” Mohamad told Mingguan Malaysia, the weekend edition of Malay paper Utusan Malaysia.

Mohamad also dismissed the premise that Umno and the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition it lead were defeated in the May 9 polls because voters rejected race-based politics and parties.

“Not true. Race-based parties do not have a problem. We have BN as a multi-racial front.”

Mohamad then justified his assertion, by pointing out to the high number of seats won by Malays parties such as PKR, Parti Amanah Negara, PAS, and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia in the 14th general election.

“These Malay parties won many seats. So it is not right to say that race-based parties are not well-received, just not united,” he was quoted saying.

In an interview with Channel News Asia last month, Khairy said that Umno needed to revamp its party structure and possibly open its membership to all Malaysians.

The idea was also backed by fellow Umno supreme council member and former tourism and culture minister, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz.