Umno presidential candidate Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah expects Umno to be back in power before the five-year term of the current Pakatan Harapan government ends.

In an interview with Malaysiakini, he said there were many ways for Umno to reclaim Putrajaya.

"We can have a joint venture, we can have a variously mixed coalition and we can negotiate (with other parties) as long as we don't lose out in the negotiations," he said.

On June 25, Razaleigh's rival Ahmad Zahid Hamidi echoed his sentiment saying Harapan was so shaky that it would fall before the 15th general election.

The former deputy prime minister said whichever parties that broke away from Harapan would approach Umno which he said has been good to all political parties.

In the interviews, Razaleigh, who is fondly known as Ku Li, did not rule out the possibility of negotiation or cooperation with PAS.

"We do not rule out anything. Our job is to get power, to use power for the people. That's what we should do," added the eight-term Gua Musang parliamentarian.

BN, which had held federal power since Malaysia's independence, lost to the Pakatan Harapan coalition following the May 9 polls.

In the weeks that followed, BN component parties began to announce their exit from the sinking coalition.

Sarawak BN dissolved after PBB, SUPP, PRS and PDP announced on June 12 they were leaving to form their own state-based alliance, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).

In Sabah, PBRS, Upko, and LDP also left the coalition while in the Peninsular, Gerakan quit BN on June 23.

This leaves BN with Umno, MIC and MCA. MyPPP's membership remains in contention following party infighting.

Direct membership proposal

Umno, has now been reduced to 52 parliamentarians after its Bagan Serai MP Noor Azmi Ghazali and Bukit Gantang MP Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal quit the party.

Previously, Razaleigh had said that BN was still relevant despite more than 10 component parties leaving the coalition.

He also proposed BN direct membership to allow the members of each component parties to become direct members of the coalition.

BN's direct members could also conduct their own election, he added.

"Umno members should become the direct members of BN en bloc. But first, you must get the component parties to consent and amend the constitution," he said.

In November 2010, the BN supreme council agreed to amend its constitution to introduce direct associate and affiliate memberships.

However, there was no follow-up action to implement this direct membership proposal.