UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is adamant that his party has no intention of revisiting any ties with parties that are scheming and manipulative.
The deputy prime minister was commenting on former UMNO leader Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman’s earlier suggestion that UMNO and PAS should revive Muafakat Nasional (MN).
Zahid said such cooperations should come out of sincerity and should not be manipulative; he also pointed out that PAS might have a “hidden agenda” for wanting to revisit the partnership with UMNO.
“I don’t think we need to revisit partnerships with scheming party leaders,” he said after attending a dinner with delegates from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) last night (Aug 29).
Yesterday, FMT reported that PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the party was ready to work with UMNO once again through the MN pact, but not with leaders who were willing to team up with DAP.
UMNO and PAS, the two largest Malay-based parties, formed MN in September 2019 as an electoral pact to fight against the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration elected to power after the 14th General Election (GE14) in 2018 and aimed at uniting the Malay-Muslim vote.
However, ties between the two parties have grown increasingly strained after PAS joined Bersatu to form PN when Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was the prime minister.
Yesterday, Tajuddin was also reported as saying that the Malays were still divided and clashing against one another for power despite PAS winning big in the Aug 12 state elections.
The former Pasir Salak MP, who announced the formation of his NGO called “Pasir Salak Bangkit”, urged UMNO and PAS to revive its MN alliance. – Aug 30, 2023
Main pic credit: MalaysiaNow
