- UPDATED 7.03PM | Added comments from Khalid Samad, Amirudin Shari, and Ronnie Liu.
Pakatan Harapan's main external foes, Umno and PAS, have formally united today.
Here's what the ruling government's leaders are saying about what the alliance:
Pakatan Harapan Youth
Harapan Youth believes the PAS-Umno union should not change Harapan's course and struggles.
The real focus of Harapan must be the struggle to defend the fate of the people, real national issues and fostering love for Malaysia.
Issues such as job opportunities, the quality of life for the B40 group, youth empowerment and Malaysian unity should be among Harapan's focus and direction.
Harapan also cannot become careless in defending the future of Sabah and Sarawak
National unity must be the thrust of every message and party struggle
Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad
What used to be a secret relationship is now made public.
Maybe today by signing (the charter) they've received their marriage license.
Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari
They will create racial politics, and there will be a movement of extreme racial politics.
I am worried this will happen even though they have a constitutional basis, but I hope they are not extreme in pushing their political struggle.
DAP central executive committee member Ronnie Liu
If the PAS-Umno pact is able to avoid seat allocation clashes (and that's a big "IF"), they would, of course, have a better chance in head-to-head challenges against Harapan parties.
Although they are more likely to be able to engineer direct head-to-heads in a general election, the PAS-Umno alliance will turn off many Malaysians including many moderate Malays who do not believe in the Ketuanan Melayu philosophy.
With BN in full Ketuanan Melayu mode and Harapan going the multiracial route, there will be a clear differentiation between the two options that the voters will have.
We believe the rakyat will opt for the multi-racial route. Of course, BN will try to claim they are multi-racial too but as mentioned earlier, the rakyat can see it for the sham that it is.
Conclusion: Harapan should stay the course
