KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 — Former Umno supreme council member, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, sees Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s (Bersatu) future as largely dependent on the political fortunes of its president, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Sinar Harian reported the Padang Rengas MP as saying that Bersatu chose to continue working with PAS through Perikatan Nasional (PN) because the Islamist party has grassroots strength.

“To me, Bersatu is a party that has no future because the party is only linked to Muhyiddin as the prime minister. Should Muhyiddin no longer be the prime minister, the party will collapse.

“That is why Bersatu, for me, which does not have the strength of the grassroots, only wants to ride on PAS, which does.

“Bersatu also has no true cause. All sorts of people belong to it. There are PKR traitors, there are Umno traitors, and there are also original Bersatu traitors,” he said as reported by Sinar Harian today.

Nazri was commenting on a recent statement by PAS deputy president, Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, who stressed the party remains of the view that a coalition between Umno, PAS and Bersatu under PN is the best way to face the 15th general election.

Nazri said that Tuan Ibrahim’s statement is purely political in nature, stressing that if Muhyiddin were no longer the prime minister, Bersatu would not have a credible substitute at hand.

“I do not care about the statement made by the PAS leadership. That’s a political statement,” Nazri said, adding that Tuan Ibrahim also wanted to show Muhyiddin that he is not playing both sides.

“We understand. This is politics. What matters is the reality among the rank and file. PAS supporters are quite comfortable with Umno supporters.

“Indeed, PAS has no problem with ‘flowers’ because their MPs were not stolen by them. Unlike Umno MPs who were,” he said, referencing Bersatu’s hibiscus party symbol.

On March 28, Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the party stands alone with its Barisan Nasional (BN) allies, while reiterating that it holds firm on its refusal to cooperate with Bersatu, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim or DAP.

The Umno president said that under the current political circumstances, BN must be prepared to contest GE15 alone.

However, the party still maintains its alliance with PAS through the Muafakat Nasional agreement forged in 2018.