Many were of the view that it was better for Pakatan Harapan (PH) to focus on strengthening itself, claiming that cooperation with others would only complicate things and make the party vulnerable to being betrayed.

“Cooperation with Pejuang, Warisan, and Muda will not add value to PH. Instead, it might just make things harder for us,” said Fami Othman of the Bandar Tun Razak PKR branch.

The term “big tent” is used to describe PKR president Anwar Ibrahim’s preference for uniting all opposition parties against Barisan Nasional (BN) – an idea which Rafizi has repeatedly said he was against.

Fami added that working with other parties (besides PH) would give rise to many issues, including seat allocation and a grab for positions.

He was also not convinced that the three parties would whole-heartedly work together with PH as they are more likely to follow former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s lead.

On Wednesday, Pejuang defended its right to nominate Mahathir as its candidate for prime minister if it wins in the next general election (GE15), saying Mahathir was more than qualified to return as prime minister for the third time.

Meanwhile, Shahrul Adnan of Klang PKR said the party must be wiser in choosing its allies in future.

“Once bitten, twice shy. We can probably still work with other opposition parties, but there are also some that we can no longer trust,” he said.

He added that party members may struggle to accept working with Bersatu, Pejuang and Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM), which recently accepted former PKR women’s wing chief Zuraida Kamaruddin.

He said, however, other opposition parties including those from Sabah and Sarawak are still welcome.

“We can’t reject everyone,” he said.