KUALA LUMPUR - After years of festering internal discord following Umno's shock election defeat in 2018, party leaders have been working to bridge the divide between two main factions in its ranks ahead of Malaysia's next general election.

Umno's most senior supreme council member Zambry Kadir told The Straits Times that a consultative committee, comprising members of the camps of both Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, have met twice since last month to hash out issues such as food security and cost of living.