Commenting on a recent renewal of talk about such a pact, Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya told FMT it did not look possible in the immediate future because of the disunity in Umno and its political weakness.
“There are too many factions in Umno now and it is at its weakest,” he said.
Any suggestion of a pact, he added, would be met with objections, especially from Umno members serving as ministers and deputy ministers.
He said those opposing the pact would want to protect their positions or interests.
Last Tuesday, Perlis Umno leader Shahidan Kassim claimed that a party member who is an MP had admitted to him that he had signed a letter in support of PKR president Anwar Ibrahim. The statement sparked a fresh round of speculation that Anwar and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi are in talks for their parties to cooperate to form a new government.
Awang Azman said a pact between Umno and PKR and possibly other parties as well could happen after the coming election since he didn’t expect any party to win a comfortable majority.
He did not elaborate on his comment about Umno having “too many factions”, beyond referring to internal differences over the choice of a candidate to replace Zahid as president. He said some were in favour of deputy president Mohamad Hasan but some were backing Barisan Nasional treasurer-general Hishammuddin Hussein.
Political consultant Syed Arabi Idid said he too didn’t expect any party to win a commanding majority in the election and added that this meant there would be negotiations to form a coalition government.
He also said it would be best for the country if the current government stayed in power till the end of the year to tackle social and economic problems brought about by Covid-19.
Sivamurugan Pandian of Universiti Sains Malaysia said Zahid might have to heed the calls for “no Anwar, no DAP” made during the last Umno General Assembly.
“If Zahid goes against that now, the party will break up further,” he said.
He said any cooperation with PKR should therefore take place after the general election.
“By then Anwar could convince Amanah and DAP to join the pact to form a stable government,” he added.