KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today said Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) must focus on their similarities rather than differences with six crucial state elections due soon.

He said the two former rivals were alike in many ways, including the race-based nature of their components.

"In BN, we have an MCA and we have an MIC, while in PH, there is DAP and others. So, what we must see is our similarities.

"PH agreed to our agendas on (the positions of) Islam and Malays, the Malay Rulers, and the Malay language. They never tampered with those and, in fact, they show respect,” he told reporters after his first briefing to Umno delegates for their 2023 general assembly.

On PAS’s allegation that Umno was demeaning itself by working with DAP, he said it was hypocritical of the Islamist party to claim so when it had partnered with DAP before.

PAS first partnered with DAP in the Barisan Alternatif coalition between 1999 and 2004, and again in Pakatan Rakyat from 2008 to 2016.

"PAS was previously married to DAP and it was okay, but when we do it, we are sacrificing the position of Malays and Islam. Why?

"They must ask themselves that. PAS has committed mut’ah marriages by joining different coalitions before this,” he said.

Mut’ah marriage is a fringe concept practised by some Shiah Muslims as a temporary marriage contract for the sake of sexual pleasure.