The Pakatan Harapan government needs to embark on a discourse of national unity to counter the “mono-ethnic” alliance of Umno and PAS, said Bersatu Supreme Council member Wan Saiful Wan Jan.

According to Free Malaysia Today, he said that Harapan had thus far “rarely discussed” national unity as it was focusing on improving the economy and addressing the rising cost of living.

“I think it is time for us to seriously think of the national unity model we want in this new era,” he was quoted as telling a University Utara Malaysia politics seminar yesterday.

Furthermore, Harapan had yet to articulate its own model of “power sharing” among the races.

“What is the Harapan model which can maintain stability in the country based on the basic principles enshrined in the Federal Constitution?

“I think this has never been debated healthily and in-depth yet,” said the former academic.

These issues need to be addressed now that Umno and PAS has joined forces, forming what Wan Saiful termed a “mono-ethnic alliance”, in order to oppose the “multi-ethnic alliance” that Harapan is.

This, he said, marked a new path for Malaysian politics.

“Harapan is multi-ethnic, and when MCA and MIC start to leave BN, and Umno and PAS are ‘in bed’ together, then we will see the start of a trajectory where multi-ethnic alliances are opposed by mono-ethnic alliances in politics,” he said.

On Monday this week, MCA and MIC announced they were moving on from BN and exploring a new alliance, despite not formally leaving the coalition.