PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli believes PAS should not be sidelined and Pakatan Harapan must still engage in attempts to work with the Islamist party.

However, he suggested that a "red line" be imposed, and if PAS chose to cross this line, then there should be no turning back.

Rafizi said the Harapan leadership must meet and decide on what this red line should entail.

"Getting closer to the general election, I would certainly advocate internally within Harapan that we must draw a red line and objectively approach PAS and other parties including Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) to work out a one-to-one arrangement now.

"If it is clear that we can't approach this, then we should move on and opt for other strategies," he told Malaysiakini.

Commenting on former minister Zaid Ibrahim, who claimed that some in PKR believe that their grip on power would be lost without PAS, Rafizi described this as speculative.

"It is widely known that within PKR there are opposing and differing views as far as our relationship with PAS is concerned.

"But on (the claim that) PKR cannot live without PAS, that is speculative," he added.

Meanwhile, PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin explained it is the party’s stand to "take care" of all opposition parties in order to dismantle Umno.

"As long as PAS has announced they are not with Umno, we have to work around it. The challenge is to ensure one-to-one fight," she said in response to Zaid.

In a speech delivered at a recent political fundraising event, Zaid pointed out how PAS was roped in in the 2008 and 2013 elections because the party agreed not to talk about hudud for a while.

"But its true colours surfaced eventually - PAS rejected Anwar Ibrahim’s leadership, and later it even said DAP was against Islam and harmful and dangerous to Muslims.

"The pact was broken, and it could not last because it was based on convenience. By that time, it was sharing power in Selangor, until today. Many in PKR still want to embrace PAS because they are afraid to lose power if they abandon PAS," he had said.

Zaid also cautioned Malaysians against falling for the argument that opposition parties need to only agree on seat allocations, and not fundamental political principles.