BN's focus is on winning, not forming mergers, says Ismail

Barisan Nasional’s (BN) priority right now is to win the 15th general election (GE15), not to consider possible merger partners or even a political alignment to form the new government, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today.

Ismail, who is also an Umno vice-president, said any merger or collaboration with other parties must be decided on by the party and not by individuals.

"We cannot say we will merge (with other parties). We don’t know yet. That’s a decision to be made by the party (BN).

"We have to win (the election) first and get the mandate to form the government. To merge or not will be considered later. One thing is for sure, like I said yesterday, the government will be formed with parties (Friends of BN) from Sabah and Sarawak. We cannot be separated," he said after attending an event in Sungai Siput.

Ismail said this in response to a report that PAS had not refuted the possibility that Perikatan Nasional (PN) would form the new government with BN if it was unable to do so on its own after GE15.
 
Ismail said numerous assumptions had been made regarding alignments and collaboration with BN, but nothing finalised.

"Sabah and Sarawak are still part of the federal government. The speculations about BN having a new alignment with Pakatan Harapan, with PN… that’s all (to be decided) after the election. Let’s cross the bridge first and decide when we get there.

"After all, we cannot make the decision alone. We may have to call a special team to make such a big decision," he said.