Anwar loyalist urges PH not to dismiss working with Umno

A staunch loyalist of PKR president Anwar Ibrahim has urged Pakatan Harapan (PH) to keep an open mind on forming an alliance with anyone including those from Umno, saying it would benefit the opposition coalition at the next general election.

“PH should not lock the door of cooperation with any party as the current political situation is fluid.

“If the reformasi agenda advoctaed by PH can be accepted by other parties, it is not impossible that a political cooperation can be established,” said PKR Youth vice-chief Syed Badli Shah Syed Osman, among those who had been vocal in calling for the prime minister’s post to be handed over to Anwar during PH’s short-lived rule.

His remarks come in the wake of an audio file that has been making the rounds, purportedly of Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi telling his party colleagues to back Anwar.

“He went to jail twice. Assuming his actions are clean, but as for his relationship with God, we don’t know… I have never seen,” a voice identical to that of Zahid’s is heard saying in the clip.

An aide to Zahid told MalaysiaNow that he had no knowledge of the clip’s authenticity.

Zahid and former prime minister Najib Razak, both of whom were Anwar’s allies when the latter was climbing the political ladder in Umno in the 1990s, have been at the forefront of efforts to get Umno to work with the PKR leader.

In October, MalaysiaNow revealed the contents of a letter by the duo to the palace, expressing their support for Anwar’s bid to topple Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Zahid and Najib are among a group of Umno leaders who claim that their party has been sidelined by Muhyiddin from key government appointments.