BERSATU has asked Umno to decide soon if it wants to join Perikatan Nasional for the next general election or go separate ways, said sources.

Bersatu, one of the main parties behind PN, wants to know Umno’s plans so that it can finalise PN’s direction and strategy for the next elections, which are expected soon, said the sources.

The Malaysian Insight learnt that Bersatu’s request was conveyed to the Umno leadership during a discussion earlier this week, where PAS leaders were also present.

“During the meeting earlier this week, a senior Bersatu leader asked Umno to decide whether it wants to cooperate or not for GE15,” a Bersatu source told The Malaysian Insight.

Umno is expected to discuss this “request” in a meeting today.

While Umno sources described the request as an “ultimatum”, Bersatu insiders denied it.

“We just need a decision quickly as the election is fast approaching. It may happen any time after the emergency ends,” said a source.

The emergency order was declared on January 11 until August 1, or earlier depending on the circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bersatu is hoping that a closer pact with PAS and Umno will deliver the numbers in GE15. Umno, however, has indicated its unhappiness of being sidelined by the smaller and newer Bersatu in the current PN government.

Several Umno leaders have openly called for severing ties with Bersatu and just work with PAS in the next elections.

Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan confirmed that 118 of the 190 Umno divisions that met in early January had decided that they don’t want the party to cooperate with Bersatu in GE15.

The combination of the three Malay parties, on paper at least, can be a formidable pact that can win over the Malay seats nationwide.

A recent study shows that the cooperation between Bersatu, PAS and Umno could lead to 162 seats and restore a two-thirds majority in the Parliament for PN.

The study by the Pertubuhan Intelektual Negara (Pintar), Ikatan Ilmuwan Nasional (Ilmuwan) and the research group QGenAnalysts (QGA) was conducted between June and December 2020. 

Umno meeting

The Malaysian Insight also understands that Umno will discuss Bersatu’s request in a meeting today when its political bureau and Supreme Council working committees meet.

“Maybe there will even be a discussion on preparations for GE15,” added a source.

At least two Umno sources confirmed that the meeting is scheduled for today.

Another source said the meeting was originally scheduled for February 14 but carried forward to today, as the movement-control order (MCO) was supposed to have ended yesterday.

Umno vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin, however said that there “may be” a meeting to possibly discuss the issue of cooperation with Bersatu.

“There is a meeting but I’m not sure if it will happen or not,” he said, reminding that the MCO is still in force in Kuala Lumpur until March 4.

While Umno and Bersatu have been at loggerheads, PAS has stated its commitment to strengthen PN and has thrown its support behind Bersatu led by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

At the same time, the Islamist party has also expressed its intention of strengthening its cooperation with Umno in Muafakat Nasional (MN).

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has said he wants Umno and Bersatu to work together in the next election to ensure a one-on-one clash with Pakatan Harapan and its allies.

Umno and PAS formed a MN in September 2019, when the two Malay parties were oppositions while Bersatu was part of then PH government.

After turmoil at the end of February last year, Muhyiddin pulled Bersatu out of PH to form a new coalition government with Umno and PAS, and gained the support of other parties from Sabah and Sarawak.

Bersatu and PAS then registered PN as a political party in early August 2020. Umno, however, insisted that it would not join the new party but would remain in Barisan Nasional (BN).

In its meeting on January 6, the Umno working committee (MKT) allowed the issue of political cooperation for GE15 to be decided by the delegates in the party’s annual general assembly.

However, the assembly, which was scheduled for the end of January, was postponed to an unspecified date after the government reimposed the MCO on January 13.

This is supposed to be Umno’s annual general assembly for 2020, which has been delayed by Covid-19.

Ahmad said Umno would hold its general assembly online if the MCO and emergency are still in place. – February 19, 2021.