The Warisan president said he spoke with MUDA co-founder Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman on the matter and had told the former youth and sports minister that it was time for youths to be given the trust to lead the country.

“Cooperation with youths is necessary if we want to make changes in this country. Throughout the history of mankind, it has been the norm for changes to be initiated by youth,” he said during an online talk show tonight.

Asked if Warisan was ready to work with Umno in Sabah if the party decided to ditch its cooperation with the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition in facing the next polls (GE15), he simply said he would focus on strengthening his party first.

“Who we collaborate with doesn’t matter if our house isn’t in order,” said the former Sabah chief minister.

He also dodged a question on who would be the best person to be prime minister after GE15, saying this was up to the people to decide, not leaders like him.

Warisan had previously stated its intention to contest in the peninsula in the coming elections, with the party already doing extensive groundwork to establish its footing there.

It maintained that the decision to spread its wings was its own, dismissing rumours that it was done under the influence of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

MUDA, led by Muar MP Syed Saddiq, has yet to be officially registered as a political party with the Registrar of Societies.