Malaysia

Anwar shoots down talk of official cooperation with Umno

Discussions held, but still too early to say for sure Pakatan will work with party for GE15, says PKR chief

Updated 5 years ago · Published on 16 Mar 2021 5:49PM

Anwar shoots down talk of official cooperation with Umno
PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is not ruling out the possibility of Pakatan Harapan cooperating with Umno in GE15. – SYEDA IMRAN/The Vibes pic, March 16, 2021

by Azril Annuar

PETALING JAYA – It is premature to say that PKR and the Pakatan Harapan coalition will cooperate with Umno in the 15th general election, said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. 

The PKR chief said he had “early” or preliminary discussions with Umno leaders to see what common grounds they shared, but there is “no official cooperation”.

Please, don’t mistake our discussion as a cooperation.

“I do not deny that there is the possibility of cooperation. I’ve informed this to our MPs and state leaders to pass the message on to our grassroots. Many commentators have said this is a cooperation; please, don’t mistake our discussion as a cooperation.

“There’s no official cooperation.”

Among the issues discussed were the Malay language, Islam, special privileges and the royals, he said.

In an interview with Mingguan Malaysia last week, Anwar said he did not have any qualms about possible arrangements to work with Umno.

However, many in the public sphere mistook the remark to mean direct cooperation between the two parties in GE15.

“There are Umno MPs who support this idea. As a party, they have made no decision besides leaving Bersatu. So, discussions with Umno will continue,” said Anwar.

“There’s a possibility for cooperation. We won’t reject it, but it’s too early for me to decide.” – The Vibes, March 16, 2021

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