PETALING JAYA, Sept 14 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) will not accept or endorse any move by Umno to join the ruling coalition, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

The prime minister said Umno members can join PH parties if they individually quit their own party first.

However, the prime minister said he will not entertain any talk of Umno joining forces with PH.

“If they want to work with PKR, no way we will accept them into Pakatan Harapan (as a party).

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“But if they individually join as party members of PKR, Bersatu, DAP, or whatever, then we can accept them,” he told the media at the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) headquarters, here.

Yesterday, Umno leader Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz urged his party to stay out of the Port Dickson by-election, as this would ruin a purported plan by Umno MPs to try and get back into government by forming an alliance with any party capable of getting them there.

The Padang Rengas MP said it would be unwise for Umno to sour ties with Anwar and PKR by contesting the seat, as the party is currently the biggest party in the ruling coalition.

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“That is fine (for Nazri to support Anwar). Maybe Umno will field a candidate against Anwar, and Nazri is going to support Anwar... We don’t know lah where he is,” Dr Mahathir quipped.

Nazri had also said that the “majority of Umno MPs” had signed a statutory declaration (SD) empowering its president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to negotiate with other political parties outside of BN, including PH parties and PAS, to once again assume federal power.