Kuala Lampur, Aug. 21 -- If Umno behaves as a rational political party determined to restore its position at the centre of Malay politics, indeed a confident one, the strategic course in Melaka is increasingly clear: it should go solo.

This is not an argument against cooperation for its own sake. Nor is it a rejection of Malay-Muslim political cooperation as a principle.

It is an argument about leverage, institutional survival and the longer-term balance of power between Umno and PAS.

Victories in Johor and Negeri Sembilan have already demonstrated something that many had considered improbable only a few years ago. Umno, and by extension Barisan Nasional (BN), is capable of climbing back from the abyss of political irrelevance.

That r...