KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 — Sabah Umno chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin has cautioned PAS and Umno to tread carefully after both parties started campaigning for one another in several by-elections.

While he himself welcomed any partnership with his party, Bung admitted to being wary of PAS and said there was a need to have some limitations, given the parties’ years of enmity.

“So, with Umno and PAS, we have to be careful. Both parties have to be careful because both of them have been enemies for many years.

“It’s not easy to move these two parties on an easy platform. It needs communication and some limitations,” Bung told Malay Mail recently.

He said Umno should be selective when deciding what issues it wants to join hands with when it comes to collaborating with the Islamist party.

“We have to be cautious because, on the ground, Umno and PAS members have been fighting for so many years. So now not only is Umno defeated, but PAS and Umno are the Opposition, and each has their own politics.

“This is simply because we don’t want a situation where they don’t see eye to eye on a certain matter and then things explode,” he added.

After the 14th general election, PAS has been engaged in a brotherhood of sort with Umno; the party has so far backed out of four by-elections to make way for Umno.

PAS had backed Barisan Nasional (BN) during the Sungai Kandis, Balakong, and Cameron Highlands by-elections. PAS will again throw its support for Umno in the upcoming Semenyih race.

Although Pakatan Harapan (PH) won Sungai Kandis and Balakong, BN won the recent Cameron Highlands race with a majority of over 3,000 votes, up from a margin of about 600 votes in the 14th general election.

Apart from Bung, Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin had also previously raised concerns about the Umno-PAS pact back when the two first joined forces during the Sungai Kandis by-election.

Bung said that for Sabah Umno however, it has the freedom to choose its own political partners, in accordance with the ‘Sabahan way’.

He said this was because of the different political environment in East and West Malaysia.

“Actually in Sabah, PAS influence is not strong.

“Also it’s not that we do not accept (Umno-PAS) partnership, but we in Sabah Umno ask for autonomy.

“So we are asking also, the autonomy to decide on who is our partner. In Peninsula, you can choose. You want to go with PAS or Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), it’s up to you. In Sabah, we determine. We decide ourselves,” he added.