KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — Former Umno politician Khairy Jamaluddin does not have to become a member to support Perikatan Nasional (PN) in the upcoming six state elections, Gerakan president Datuk Dominic Lau told Sin Chew Daily.

Lau indicated that one of the ways Khairy could help PN is by not running for public office, the Chinese vernacular paper reported yesterday. “Hope he can still help Perikatan Nasional at that time, help with campaigning during the six state elections,” Lau was quoted as saying.

Khairy posted a photo on Instagram yesterday in which he posed with PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who is also Bersatu president.

It was previously reported that Khairy would be meeting the PN leadership to discuss Muhyiddin’s offer of a seat in Bersatu’s supreme council if he agreed to join the party.

Sin Chew Daily reported Lau saying that he was optimistic Khairy would say yes, but added that any announcement on that matter would come from Muhyiddin.

Lau claimed that Khairy’s heart is with PN and that the latter would not found a new political party.

He said the political reality in Malaysia requires parties to be in a coalition to survive.

As an example, he pointed to the 2019 Tanjung Piai by-election when Gerakan contested solo and was defeated.

The Tanjung Piai by-election that year was a six-cornered fight that ended with Barisan Nasional winning with 25,466 votes and Pakatan Harapan in second place with 10,380 votes. Gerakan came in a distant third at 1,707 votes and the rest each garnered votes below 1,000.

In a separate news article yesterday, Berita Harian reported Bersatu info chief Datuk Razali Idris confirming Khairy and Muhyiddin had met at the latter’s house.

According to Berita Harian, Razali said Khairy gave an assurance that he would not set up a new party.

But Razali also said to wait for Muhyiddin’s statement as it is not known if Khairy would be joining a party, and if so, which.

Khairy, who has been without a party since his sacking from Umno in January, made headlines when he attended a meeting on the country’s economic trajectory that was chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and attended by business leaders, economic experts and politicians including Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani.

This led to speculation that Khairy might be planning to join the unity government.