An academic has advised Pakatan Harapan and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) leaders to zip their lips and voice their suggestions during internal meetings to avoid a negative perception.

According to Kamarul Zaman Yusoff, the main focus should be on forming a joint technical committee apart from holding discussions on policies so that the leaders are seen as being on the same page on all issues.

“Situations such as Bersatu chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad describing BR1M as corruption while PKR president Dr Wan Azizah claiming otherwise would not happen if Harapan and Bersatu leaders had prepared their common policies beforehand.

“If debates and arguments continue to take place in the open among the leaders and if the internal mechanism does not work as planned, then I am pessimistic about the future of Harapan and Bersatu,” added the director of Universiti Utara Malaysia's Political Research Institute (Mapan).