PETALING JAYA, June 16 — Several Umno supreme council members said they did not dismiss the possibility of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) embracing the Muafakat Nasional alliance, following a supreme council meeting convened at the party’s headquarters tonight.

In a report by Malay daily Sinar Harian, supreme council member Datuk Mohd Razlan Muhammad Rafii, however, stressed it remains uncertain whether the entire party leadership will agree upon the aforementioned decision as they were not informed of tonight’s meeting agenda.

“We are not sure what is going to be discussed as part of the meeting’s agenda tonight. The discussion about Bersatu joining Muafakat Nasional seems to be true but the decision is still undecided.

“What we believe now is that today’s government is liked by the rakyat, that must be defended. The Malays have long wanted racial integration to be implemented, so we must maintain whatever it is now.

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“Just that on the leadership structure (on Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin appointed the chairman of Muafakat Nasional), I have no certainty. Maybe there is more if there is a press conference after the meeting,” he was quoted saying.

Mohd Razlan also stressed that regardless of Perikatan Nasional’s future direction, it would be decided in the interest of the people by Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Earlier today, former Umno supreme council member Datuk Lokman Noor Adam claimed that a supreme council meeting will be held tonight to decide on the proposal of whether to accept Bersatu into Muafakat Nasional in the near future.

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Another supreme council member, Datuk Dr Fathulbari Mat Jahaya said that the speculation of Bersatu’s inclusion in Muafakat Nasional must be seen in the context of Muslim ummah, the need to have a parliamentary seats majority and who is the Prime Minister.

According to him, the cooperation between the parties in PN should be decided by their respective party leaders at the negotiating table and not based on the statements of specific leaders within the party.

“I realise that there are some quarters playing up the issue of cooperation between parties within PN and my advice is that all leaders should be consistent with their respective leadership.

“No need to issue chest-thumping statements claiming that other parties needed to sacrifice for theirs because such pressure is unreasonable,” he was quoted saying.