BARISAN Nasional’s (BN) priority right now is to win the general election and not on possible merger partners or even the political alignment to form the new government, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

The Umno vice president said any collaboration must be decided by the party and not by a certain individual.

“We cannot say we will merge (with other parties). We don’t know yet. That’s a decision to be made by the party (BN).

“However, we have to win first and get the mandate to form the government. Merging will be considered later.

“One thing is for sure, the government will be formed with parties from Sabah and Sarawak. We cannot be separated,” he said in Sungai Siput today, after he was challenged again by members of the press about Takiyuddin Hassan’s comments yesterday.

Ismail said that numerous assumptions about BN had been made regarding alignments and collaboration.

“Sabah and Sarawak are still part of the federal government. The speculations about BN having a new alignment with Pakatan Harapan (PH), with PN…that’s all (to be decided) after the election. Let’s cross the bridge first and decide when we get there.

“After all, we cannot make the decision alone, we may have to call a special team to make such a big decision,” he said. – Bernama, November 15, 2022.