PETALING JAYA: Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin has clarified that any suggestion for the party to cooperate with Umno is not official, but the personal opinions of certain party members.

Muhyiddin said the decision on political cooperation involves a complex evaluation of strategic factors and the party’s core principles, Utusan Malaysia reported.

“There are complex issues, and this matter of cooperation is not as simple as it seems,” he was quoted as saying at a Bersatu Hari Raya Aidilfitri event in Jempol, Negeri Sembilan, today.

“I don’t want to make a statement just like that. We will discuss it at the party’s political bureau and the Supreme Leadership Council level.

“If there are any views expressed by my colleagues in Bersatu about cooperation with Umno, these are their personal opinions, not the party’s official stance.”

On Thursday, Bersatu deputy president Hamzah Zainudin said in a podcast the party was open to working with Umno because of their shared ideological values.

Hamzah had reiterated this stance during the recent Ayer Kuning by-election, which Umno won with an increased majority despite low voter turnout.

In response, Umno Veterans Club secretary Mustapha Yaakub called on Bersatu to dissolve and return to its fold.

However, Muhyiddin rejected such an idea, saying that Bersatu remains firm in its stance, particularly its refusal to work with DAP.

“My question is, why not dissolve Umno and join Bersatu instead?” he said.