KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 — The decision on whether Barisan Nasional (BN) will "merge” with other parties if it was unable to secure a simple majority in Parliament to form the new government will only be made after the 15th General Election (GE15).

Caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said any future plan, especially on the matter, would depend on the results of the GE15.

"Let’s see the results first and decide later. We’ll cross the bridge when we get there.

"InsyaAllah, the decision we’ll make will be in the best interest of the country. What’s important is for us to have a stable government,” he told reporters after the opening ceremony of the Malay Contractors Convention 3.0 and the 43rd annual general meeting of the Malay Contractors Association Malaysia (PKMM), here today.

He said this when asked about the possibility for BN to forge a coalition with other parties like PAS to form the government if it was unable to secure an adequate number of seats in Parliament at the GE 15.

On October 16, BN deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan was reported as saying that BN must win more than 112 seats in GE15 in order to form a government.

Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri, who is also Umno vice-president, said BN is still in the midst of completing the seat allocation process among its component parties, as well as parties deemed as Friends of BN, before it could focus on the candidates.

"We are looking into all aspects and the final decision will be made by consensus like always.

"BN now only has four component parties (Umno, MIC, MCA and PBRS or the United Sabah People’s Party) so it should be easier to discuss and we will have a decision soon,” he added. — Bernama