Umno must 'sacrifice a lot' for PN to be viable - Wan Saiful

Umno must "sacrifice a lot" for Perikatan Nasional to be viable, said Bersatu supreme council member Wan Saiful Wan Jan.

In a statement today, Wan Saiful said Umno is not the dominant party in PN as it was in BN. Instead, Umno splinter party Bersatu is in charge of PN.

"Certainly, some Umno leaders are worried. Equability in PN will make it better than BN.

"For now, to me, Umno needs to be given time and space to manage the transition," he said.

Wan Saiful said all PN parties must respect the process taking place in Umno.

"Umno is not new in politics and they have experience when it comes to undergoing change. Give them time and respect their internal process."

Officially, BN, GPS, Bersatu, PAS, PBS and Star presidents have issued a joint statement in recognition of PN.

There is also talk that PN might be formally registered as a coalition and commence seat distribution talks soon.

However, some Umno leaders, most notably Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan (above), was against the idea of formalising ties with Bersatu, which would mean having to share seats during the next election.

Meanwhile, Wan Saiful said in many countries, there was no need to have a formal coalition but in Malaysia, people were used to it and therefore it was necessary.

"Personally, I don't think it's that important. But I understand without formalising PN, there will be a lot of questions raised by our opponents.

"In this context, I think registering (PN) is a pre-condition we must fulfil and I hope an announcement can be made soon for component parties to feel at ease," he said. - Mkini