After being officially rejected by Umno and the BN coalition, Malay rights pressure group Perkasa says that it doesn't need their support.

NONE "(Perkasa) only needs the support of its members throughout the country and people who support our cause," said Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali (right ) in a SMS message to the press today.

Perkasa's guarded statement on its relationship with the ruling party comes amidst attempts by Umno and BN coalition to distance themselves with the movement.

Yesterday, the BN management meeting in Putrajaya resolved that the coalition would have no ties with Perkasa, as they deemed the latter detrimental to the coalition's effort to garner non-Malay support.

Numerous parties had expressed reservations about Perkasa during the meeting and urged Umno to state its position on the movement.

Ku Nan: Umno no ties with Perkasa

Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Mansor also promised his counterparts in BN components yesterday that his party will not back Perkasa nor Ibrahim.

"Umno does not have anything to do with Perkasa as alleged by some. The other BN components welcome this stand.

"Being associated with Perkasa will only weigh the party down. This sentiment was shared by all component parties which are worried about feedback they have been getting from the grassroots," Tengku Adnan, according to today's New Straits Times .

Previously, Tengku Adnan had also vowed that Umno will face Ibrahim for the Pasir Mas seat in the next general election.

Perkasa, which now claims to have 50,000 members, was formed in the aftermath of the 2008 general elections in a bid to protect the constitutional positions of the Malays.

BN-Perkasa run-ins

This has led to numerous run-ins with the more liberal and inclusive Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and leaders of BN's second largest component MCA .

The skirmishes have been drawn out and often led to Perkasa pitting component parties against each other.

But Perkasa's biggest target has been Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's New Economic Model which seeks to loosen pro-bumiputera affirmative actions to encourage competition.

Of late, Perkasa had also been questioning Najib's 1Malaysia campaign, which seeks to improve race relations.

Perkasa: Don't blame us for Umno's woes