KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 — Umno today asked DAP to ensure that former MP Tony Pua, who recently called the Barisan Nasional coalition "corrupt”, does not contest in the coming state elections if it wants the current government coalition to continue.

Its secretary-general Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said that Pua, who was the political secretary to the finance minister during the 2018 Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration, was the reason the country was still suffering economically and has yet to recover.

"I have sent a message of protest to the highest leadership in DAP and urged them not to put Pua up as a candidate in the coming elections if they want the harmony of the unity government to continue.

"He is dreaming if he has forgotten that it's now no longer a PH government, but a coalition government of many parties including BN, PH, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Parti Warisan, consisting of 19 political parties,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

Asyraf said that voters have not forgotten Pua's actions while in the Finance Ministry during the 22 months PH was in power from 2018.

"It was during their administration that the economy that was once great during BN’s time, has fallen and caused the people to suffer.

"Now, five years later, the economy still hasn’t properly recovered. Malaysia is not as prosperous anymore,” he said.

He however did not elaborate on his accusations against Pua.

Pua, at a Petaling Jaya DAP fundraising dinner recently took a swipe at its allies called BN corrupt and said that PH needed to prove it was multiracial, "clean and not corrupt compared to Malay-based nationalist parties like Umno and Parti Pribumi Bersatu National.”

DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke said that Pua’s comments were "uncalled for” and not reflective of the party’s stand.