KUALA LUMPUR ― Malaysia's Malay community, which had been told that the ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno) is their sole saviour, have started to change their decades-old view rooted in fear of a Chinese takeover if another coalition takes federal power, said opposition leader Muhyiddin Yassin.

Mr Muhyiddin, a former Umno deputy president who is now president of opposition party Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), admitted that he had in the past told the Malay community that only Umno can look out for their interests.

"This is what has been entrenched in the minds of the Malays ― that the only saviour is Umno. Without Umno, the Malays will die.

"Well, when I was on that side too, I put those kind of things in their minds because we wanted them to continue to support Umno," he said in an interview with weekly paper The Edge published on Saturday (April 14).

Mr Muhyiddin said opposition pact Pakatan Harapan (PH) was now telling Malay voters that Umno is not the "sole fighter for the Malay cause", as PH is capable of fighting for the Malay cause as much as for non-Malays.

He claimed that the federal opposition has been pounding its way in the Malay heartlands, where those from Felda settlements and those in places with strong presence of opposition party Parti Islam SeMalaysia ― Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan ― had turned up for the federal opposition's events.

"The Malay mindset has shifted in a significant way and they are no longer scared that if BN loses, cina perintah (Chinese rule), Kit Siang will be the prime minister. How could Kit Siang become the prime minister?," he said, referring to veteran opposition leader Lim Kit Siang.

He pointed out that PH had already nominated PPBM chairman Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as deputy prime minister, and PKR's Anwar Ibrahim as the eighth prime minister if PH wins power.

"How could DAP rule? They only have 34 seats, it doesn't reflect majority support. It is only one party, and without the other races, nobody can form the government," he said.

Mr Muhyiddin also said the PPBM party is not "racist", also explaining that the decision on the party's formation was based on studies that found that the failure to capture Malay voters had hampered the federal opposition's bid to form the federal government.

"Because when we formed the party, I made a very important decision when I asked them, what will this party be? Multiracial or Malay-Muslim based?

"Why? Because we have done studies. The reason why the opposition loses all the time is because they have not been able to win the Malay hearts. The Malay votes were not forthcoming. Even with 52 per cent of the popular vote, they couldn't make it," he said.

"Nobody says that you are a racist party, because we are not racist. This is the strategy and it is working very well. So, wherever you go, you can see Bersatu coming in," he added.

PPBM was officially founded in September 2016.

PPBM youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman had earlier this month told Malay Mail that the party was different from Malay nationalist Umno and the Islamist PAS, arguing that the party has non-Bumiputera and non-Muslim members holding leadership positions.

He said non-Bumiputera makes up roughly five per cent of the estimated 200,000 PPBM membership, and that non-Bumiputera associate members can be appointed to leadership positions within the party.

Back in August 2016, Mr Muhyiddin had said PPBM's membership is open to all Bumiputera citizens, with non-Bumiputera allowed to join as associate members that will have the same rights as ordinary members except for the right to vote and contest for party positions. THE MALAY MAIL ONLINE