THE Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition might have to “merge” with other parties if it fails to secure a simple majority in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat to form the next federal government after the 15th General Election (GE15).
According to caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the new alliance would possibly involve Gabungan Parti Sarawak and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), among others.
However, the UMNO vice president also acknowledged that any future plans, especially on the matter, would be made after the GE15 results were announced.
“We cannot form the next federal government with only 85 parliamentary seats as we need a simple majority of 112 seats to do so,” Ismail Sabri told reporters after officiating the launch of the new Angkasapuri Media City building complex today (Oct 26), as quoted by Utusan Malaysia.
“Therefore, of course we will have to collaborate with other parties like what GPS did in Sarawak [and] what GRS did in Sabah or any other parties that will be determined by the UMNO Supreme Council after GE15.
“We will need to wait for the results of GE15 to be announced before the Supreme Council can come to a decision.”
The incumbent Bera MP was responding to an earlier comment by Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research senior fellow Prof Azmi Hassan who expected BN to be able to win 80 to 85 parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia which has a majority of at least 65% Malay voters.
Azmi further pointed out that the numbers are still insufficient for BN to secure a simple majority of 112 seats to form a government and as such, BN needs the support of other parties – especially those in Sabah and Sarawak – to achieve this.
Previously Ismail Sabri said that it is still too premature for BN to decide on any political partners in order to form a government after GE15.
He said that BN would need to wait for the outcome of the national polls before making any considerations.
He also said that most importantly was that BN managed to secure enough parliamentary seats to allow it to form the federal government, and that once the outcome of GE15 was made known, they will make any decisions “in the interest of the nation”. – Oct 26, 2022
