Perikatan Nasional (PN) has the extraordinary strength to win the next general election if UMNO, PAS and Bersatu remain loyal to the coalition and do not fight each other.

UMNO supreme council member Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman said the clashes between former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) President Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had also reduced the threat to PN.

Tajuddin jokingly said the current Dr Mahathir-Anwar row was good to the ruling government.

“If Bersatu, PAS and UMNO remain loyal to the PN as a coalition, not against each other, we have an 'incredible' strength to win in the coming elections.

“But if Anwar and Mahathir want to continue to ‘contribute’, we say thank you very much. Just continue fighting, it's okay,” he said at a press conference after visiting Rapid Rail's headquarters at Subang Depot here on Thursday.

He said this in response to media questions about the row between Anwar and Dr Mahathir that was said to be of advantage to PN.

Recently, the PKR Central Leadership Council (MPP) rejected a proposal to nominate Dr Mahathir as prime minister again.

Instead, PKR decided to stick with the Pakatan Harapan (PH) consensus to nominate Anwar as the prime ministerial candidate if PH succeeded in forming the government.

Dr Mahathir later decided to only work with Amanah and DAP and no longer be a member of Pakatan Harapan (PH) Plus, Sin Chew Daily reported.

The decision was made after Anwar rejected a proposal to nominate Dr Mahathir as prime minister.