Malaysia’s Umno marks 80th anniversary with show of Malay political power

In the Johor palace where Malaysia’s once-dominant ruling party was born, Umno’s leaders posed on Monday with the country’s king in a carefully staged reminder of the power they commanded for six decades – and the influence they now hope to reclaim.The United Malays National Organisation (Umno), the Malay nationalist party that led Malaysia from independence until its shock election defeat eight years ago, marked its 80th anniversary in its birthplace with a grand show of unity as it sought to reassert itself before a string of polls due in coming months.Umno was thrown into the political wilderness in 2018 after six decades in power, rejected by voters angered by rising living costs and allegations of widespread corruption in that year’s watershed national election.