KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 — Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan today said the party did not take sides after the 15th general election (GE15) and only did what was best for the country.

He said Umno did not join Pakatan Harapan (PH) nor did it turn its back on Perikatan Nasional (PN).

In his opening speech for Umno's annual general meeting (AGM), he addressed the party’s concerns about working with PH to form a unity government.

"Basically, Ummo did not join PH, nor abandon PN. We choose to prioritise Malaysia.

"Umno only joined the unity government, which the Yang di-Pertuan Agong proposed. So there is no issue in Umno's cooperation with DAP and PKR, or Amanah,” he said to 191 party wing delegates at the party headquarters at World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur (WTCKL).

He reminded delegates that the party’s foundation lies on the ground of centrism and it should defend the principles that have been the "DNA” of the country.

He said GE15 was rifewith extremism which was against the very foundation of a multicultural country.

"Seeing how issues of race, and religion, become the capital of certain political parties' campaigns, to an extreme level, Malaysia must be returned to centrism.

"We cannot let the future of Malaysia be shaped by the rightist or the leftist,” he added.