Not up to Zahid alone to decide on coalition govt with Anwar, says Tok Mat

Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan today said that party chief Ahmad Zahid Hamidi cannot unilaterally decide on the formation of a coalition government with Pakatan Harapan (PH) after the 15th general election (GE15). 

"Definitely, he has to consult with me first," he said at a press conference at the World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur. 

When asked about Barisan Nasional's (BN) prospects of working with PH if it does not win enough seats to form the government on its own, Mohamad said: "Why talk about PH when there are many other parties?

"Wait until the night of Nov 19 – anything is possible." 

Zahid has repeatedly said that BN is ready to work with any party after GE15. 

Speculation of cooperation with PH has been further fuelled by PKR president Anwar Ibrahim's apparent concentration of attacks on Perikatan Nasional (PN) rather than BN. 

At the press conference today, Mohamad said he was confident that BN would be able to win more than the 112 seats needed to form the government after the general election. 

"Malaysia needs a stable and strong government," he said. 

"We can no longer afford to have so many parties to the point where decisions need to be referred back to individual parties." 

Reiterating his confidence that BN could "cross the bridge" and form the next government, Mohamad nevertheless said that further strengthening the administration with a bigger mandate would depend on who wanted to work with the coalition. 

He also alluded to the results of the Melaka and Johor state elections, where BN had won enough seats to form the government on its own. 

A total of 222 parliament seats are up for grabs at the election this Saturday. 

A minimum of 112 seats are required to form the government with a simple majority.