KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said today a permanent alliance with PAS will be created in time for the 15th general election.

The Padang Rengas MP said this was mentioned by the Umno acting president, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, himself.

“No issue, I never bothered, and if they (MCA, MIC) want to form new alliance, well and good, because we also in Umno, I have been told, want to form a new alliance with PAS on a permanent basis,” Nazri told Malay Mail when contacted.

“Tok Mat has said permanent. They are going to talk seriously about it, and I support the permanent cooperation with PAS,” Nazri said referencing Tok Mat in reference to Mohamad’s popular moniker.

Advertisement

“This is the thinking of most Umno grassroots. They want the Malay-Muslim parties to come together,” Nazri added.

Nazri’s statement came moments after the announcement by BN’s main component parties MCA and MIC, who said they will be seeking a new political coalition, claiming a lack of “mutual respect” from Umno within the alliance.

In a joint statement, MCA and MIC said Nazri had repeatedly uttered racial remarks perceived to be from Umno, and the Malay nationalist party’s continued silence had cracked the foundation of mutual respect in the coalition.

Advertisement

Both parties have also urged the BN’s Supreme Council to convene immediately to decide on BN’s fate, saying that BN was formed to promote political unity, stability and harmony in a multiracial nation.

BN was founded in 1973, and since its precursor the Alliance Party, had governed the country for six decades until its shock defeat to Pakatan Harapan last year.