BN has ceased to exist with the departure of Sarawak from the former ruling coalition, an analyst said.

"There is no BN anymore, only Umno remains meaning BN is dead. (It exists) only in name," Institut Darul Ehsan vice-chairperson Mohammad Redzuan Othman told Malaysiakini.

BN has shrunk from a 13-party coalition to one with just four parties following its defeat in the May 9 general elections.

Umno has 54 out of their 57 parliamentary seats, while MIC has two, MCA one and Gerakan none.

"BN is Umno now and Umno is BN [...] the others are meaningless," he said, explaining that the other parties had failed to bring in non-Malay support for BN.

Umno leaders Malaysiakini spoke to, however, have differing opinions on the party's future with BN.

Outgoing Puteri Umno chief Mas Ermieyati Samsuddin believed the party should go at it alone as the partners had suffered major defeats in the May 9 general election.

"We don't need to wait for MCA, MIC and Gerakan (to make a decision on leaving BN). If we want to do something we should do it first," she said.

Federal Territories Umno Youth chief Razlan Rafii (above), however, is against this idea saying Umno should remain in BN and that they have experienced having weak allies before.

He said those who left BN, such as the Sarawak parties, should be condemned.

"When we were strong we were together, so when we are weak we should stay together too.

"What the Sarawak parties did was out of individual interest, not to fight for the people as BN does," Razlan said.

Umno vice-president candidate Tajuddin Abdul Rahman also opined that the party should remain in BN as it was a good brand that had developed the country.

Instead, he said it is the other component parties that should quit the coalition.

"If MCA can't contribute, there's no need for them to be in BN. Like Gerakan, they can't do anything. It's like they're dead," Tajuddin said.

He added that Umno should find new strategic partners for BN going forward but declined to say who he had in mind.

Tajuddin had previously said that Umno should consider forming a new political bloc with PAS.

Yesterday, Sarawak's four ruling parties - PBB, SUPP, PRS, and PDP - quit BN to form a new state-based coalition, Gabungan Parti Sabah (GPS) that is friendly to the Pakatan Harapan federal government.

This followed the exits of other BN component parties from Sabah as well as MyPPP in the peninsula.