Stating that Umno “must return to Islam”, Nik Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz said Umno’s loss in the 2018 general election was a “disaster” which should have put it on the “path to repentance”.

“When you repent and want to improve yourself, you need to be with a good friend. The patient must be with the doctor,” the PAS central working committee member said in a Facebook post today.

“Therefore, Umno must be with PAS. This is because PAS is ahead of other parties in its commitment to Islam.

“Umno is still (comprised of) two groups. Whichever group will lead later, I invite them to join PAS in building the country.”

The former Bachok MP said while Umno had already forged strong ties with PAS in their Muafakat Nasional (MN) alliance, “ongoing misunderstandings” had dimmed MN and the PAS-Umno relationship.

However, he said he was confident all misunderstandings could be resolved, adding that the country’s politics had revealed “strange things”.

Barisan Nasional won 30 seats in GE15, with 26 of them coming from Umno. Perikatan Nasional (PN) won 74 seats.

BN later agreed to form the current government with Pakatan Harapan (PH) and East Malaysian coalitions, with Nik Abduh calling Umno’s choice to be with PH “a desperate act” due to its loss of confidence in PN.

Nik Abduh said the BN brand was in need of renewal as it was “too old (and) dull”. This was in comparison to PN and PH, which were more attractive to first-time voters as they were “younger, new and exciting”.