If PAS doesn't work with opposition parties and still wants to win seats in the next election, the Islamist party must then work with Umno, said the party's former vice-president Mahfuz Omar.

"PAS has no choice but to either work with Pakatan Harapan or to work with BN," Mahfuz, who is the Pokok Sena MP, told Malaysiakini.

He said in the event of a three-cornered fight, Umno and PAS both stand to lose votes.