Isham Jalil said this was aimed at preventing BN and Umno from winning.

“If Umno wins, it will be the end of PN and Bersatu. It will split.”

This was why Bersatu was looking to garner the Malay votes in Melaka and prevent Umno from winning, even if it meant that PH would form the next state government, he said.

“This is why we need to go all out against Bersatu.”

The Selangor BN information chief claimed that Muhyiddin would rather have Pakatan Harapan win the state instead of Umno.

“This is the scorched earth strategy. Plus, he was friends with PH before and always said he never liked Umno,” Isham said in a Facebook post this evening.

In announcing PN’s decision earlier today, Muhyiddin said they were ready for “straight fights or three- and even four-cornered fights”.

Isham also said that if Umno and BN lost in the Melaka polls, Muhyiddin would be able to argue that the coalition needed PN in order to win in the 15th general election.