• UPDATED 12.09PM | Added Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim's comments. 

PKR is committed to Pakatan Harapan and will defend the mandate given to the victorious coalition by the people in the last general election.

Party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (photo) told Malaysiakini that the party would also be loyal to the understanding and agreements signed with Harapan.

"PKR is committed to Harapan and we will defend the mandate of the people in 2018," he said, without elaborating further.

The statement was made by Saifuddin in response to speculation about Harapan's future with talk of a new alliance being formed that would include PAS and Umno.

Umno's political committee and supreme council will both be meeting today to reach a final stand on whether or not to work with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Bersatu.

"If there is no opposition from the supreme council, then it looks like the cooperation will happen," said a high-ranking Umno source aligned to party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

The plan is expected to meet resistance from those in former Umno president Najib Abdul Razak's faction such as supreme council member Lokman Adam.

Yesterday, Mahathir quipped that the support from Umno and PAS has had a levitating effect on him.

“They are saying Umno, even PAS, are willing to work with me. I told them if you want to work with me, you just support lah,” he added.

Asked on the nature of support he expected from them, Mahathir said: “In Parliament, when we do something right, I think they should support it, not just oppose blindly.”

Meanwhile, PKR's Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim questioned if the people will accept a new coalition that goes against the rakyat's mandate given in the last general election.

"In these few days, there are talks about an initiative to form a new coalition called Pakatan Nasional to replace Harapan.

"It is said Pakatan Nasional will comprise 26 Bersatu MPs, 20 MPs from a PKR splinter, 41 BN MPs, 18 PAS MPs and 19 GPS MPs, bringing the total to 124 MPs, excluding the Sabah parties," he said.

Hassan said if this happens, it is enough to meet the 112 MP threshold to form the government and this new coalition could retain Mahathir as prime minister without the need to hand over the position to PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.

"But will the people accept a Pakatan Nasional coalition which is very opportunistic?

"It should not be called Pakatan Nasional but a coalition of opportunistic political parties," he said.