We’ll stick to PAS but you should come back to Umno, Nazri tells Dr M

(FMT) – Former Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general Nazri Aziz says it is too late for Umno and PAS to join PPBM, following Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s recent call for Malay political parties to unite under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) partner.

Nazri said the three Malay-based parties – PPBM, PAS and Umno – would still not be able to form the government.

“I am talking about MPs here. You must be able to form the government. As it is now, PPBM plus PAS plus Umno, we cannot reach the magic 112. So what is the point?” the Padang Rengas MP told reporters in Parliament.

Nazri said Umno would continue with its political cooperation with PAS.

“Maybe it is a bit late, because we have agreed with PAS. We have a good working relation with them.

“I support PAS and I support working with PAS,” he added.

He said the three by-elections won by BN on the back of the Umno-PAS alliance showed the return of Malay support for the opposition parties.

“There is no turning back. Umno and PAS must work together. We must win back all the seats we lost because of the split in Malay votes,” he said.

Nazri on the hand invited Mahathir to rejoin Umno.

“I would love for Dr Mahathir to come back to Umno. Come back to Umno, because there are only two main parties in Malaysia. Umno and PAS. The rest are splinter parties.

“And with splinter parties, history has shown that they will fail. Semangat 46, Berjasa and now PPBM, Amanah. I don’t think they can survive.”