PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said Tengku Razaleigh should take into consideration that MN had united the Malays after “years of being divided”.
“MN is the best way for the Malays to become stronger,” he told FMT and urged Tengku Razaleigh, fondly known as Ku Li, to keep in mind the new political landscape.
“Barisan Nasional is no longer dominant and the results of the last general election should serve as a lesson,” he said.
Tuan Ibrahim reminded Tengku Razaleigh it would be dangerous for the Malay parties to be divided as it would weaken the community. He also warned that Pakatan Harapan, the opposition coalition, would take advantage of such a split.
Tengku Razaleigh recently said that Umno, PAS and PPBM would squabble among themselves as the 15th general election drew closer.
He also wondered how Umno would benefit from MN in view of the fact that its traditional seats were now held by PPBM leaders, while its MPs were not holding many posts in the Cabinet despite continuously backing Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister.
Muhyiddin is the PPBM president.
MN was set up by Umno and PAS – the two biggest Malay-Muslim parties – last September. Together with PPBM, which joined a few months ago, it forms the loose coalition of Perikatan Nasional (PN), which runs the federal government with the support of Sarawak’s ruling GPS coalition.
PAS central committee member Fadzli Hassan echoed a similar sentiment.
“Does he want (the Malays) to regress?” he said, referring to Tengku Razaleigh.
Fadzli said MN was set up to help carve a better future for the Malays and accused Tengku Razaleigh of being stuck in the past.
“And he cannot accept the advantages (gained from MN) and the current government.”
However, Johor PPBM chief Mazlan Bujang conceded there was some truth behind concerns raised by Tengku Razaleigh, especially when it came to seat allocations.
This was because the three parties could win in many of the traditional seats.
“So who will give it up? All lay claim they have the right (to the seat). If Umno feels they can win a particular seat, why would they relinquish it to another party?”
However, Mazlan said such clashes could be avoided if Umno were to emulate PAS and joined Perikatan Nasional.