PKR vice-president Tian Chua said the analyst’s claim was “a bit far-fetched” while Umno vice-president Khaled Nordin and Supreme Council member Alwi Che Ahmad both said the claim was “nonsense”.

A PKR party insider who wished to remain anonymous said he was not aware of such discussions with Umno leaders. FMT is awaiting a response from five of the 10 Umno ministers in the Cabinet on the issue.

The claim about the talks was made by political analyst James Chin in a tweet earlier today. Saying he supported the move, he said DAP would prove to be a “sticking point” but he was certain that an agreement could be reached if “there’s a will to keep someone/s in jail”.

Tian Chua told FMT: “I don’t know where he (the analyst) got his information from. Even if there were talks, we would have to deny this claim. There are always possibilities in politics, but there must be a material basis to it.”

He asked what possible motive could Umno leaders aligned to Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob have in holding discussions with Anwar, who is Pakatan Harapan chairman and PKR president.

Tian Chua said Ismail would have to face backlash from both the Cabinet and Umno, if he was “mad enough” to enter into talks with Anwar about a new government.

“Why would Ismail need to form a government with us? How can PH benefit him? And why would we do that? Are the talks about us supporting him as prime minister, or does he want to give the post to Anwar?

“And why should we support Ismail? He can’t even control the price of chicken. Inflation is also high, so we have good issues to raise against the government. Why would we join them now? I don’t think there is any reason for that.”

Tian Chua added that talk about forming a “new government” would only lead to even more political instability. He predicted that the next general election would be held within the next six to 12 months.