In a statement, Pakatan Harapan (PH) secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said Upko had applied to join PH and its presidential council had agreed to allow the former Barisan Nasional component into its fold.
“PH believes Upko’s entry (into the coalition) will continue to strengthen cooperation (within the coalition) in preparing for the next general election.”
Upko now has one MP in Wilfred Madius Tangau.
The latest development follows reports that opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim would meet other opposition party leaders to invite them to join PH or work with it under its “big tent” concept of reinforcing the opposition bloc.
In the statement, Saifuddin said PH was always open to working with other opposition parties, and welcomed those who wanted to join the coalition.
Previously, three PH lawmakers urged the coalition to officially invite other opposition parties like Warisan, MUDA, Pejuang, Upko and PSB to join the pact.
Tangau, who is Upko president, said the party had been in talks to join PH since October last year.
“This was not an afterthought as we had lots of meetings among party leaders and also among the grassroots,” the Tuaran MP told FMT.
He said Upko’s Supreme Council sent its application to PH a week ago.
“As far as we are concerned, it’s better to be under one big tent,” he said, adding that Upko had also been in discussions with the state PKR and DAP for some time.
Asked whether the latest development would affect Upko’s relationship with Warisan, Tangau said: “I hope they will also join (PH) because Warisan has also been talking about unity.
“This is what unity is all about … Unity is action, which means we work together in a team.”
He said the first order of business for Upko after this was to ask the PH leadership for the party to be included in the confidence and supply agreement (CSA) talks with the government.
“We want to be included in talks on the terms and conditions,” he said.
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