Umno-PAS is company, three's a crowd - Khaled Nordin

 

Umno and PAS are sufficient to ensure Malay dominance and political stability, according to Umno vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

"Any more and the space is a little bit too crowded," he added in a statement today.

Khaled said Umno's mission now is to regain power at the federal level through BN in cooperation with PAS.

The former Johor menteri besar said this is because Umno is the country's largest and oldest Malay political party with a mandate to act as a nationalist party that ensures Malay-Muslim political power.

"Those who are proposing to reduce Umno's influence are those who are weak and do not have anything to offer the Malays," he added.

Khaled said Umno has been dominant since independence as a Malay party and the leader of BN and even ensured that its component parties win in Malay-majority areas.

He said even party leaders who lose in elections are often appointed to important positions.

"This proves that even when Umno is dominant and is the pillar of BN, it has never marginalised BN component parties.

"Instead, Umno's dominance led to other component parties being accepted, strong and represented in government," he added.

Elaborating on the importance of Umno's dominance, Khaled pointed to how former British prime minister Theresa May was unable to proceed with Brexit because she did not have the numbers.

However, her successor Boris Johnson immediately sought an election to obtain a bigger mandate to bring the UK out of the EU.

"It is the same with Malay-Muslim politics in Malaysia. A dominant Malay party has existed for a long time and cannot be extinguished that easily.

"A dominant Malay party is very important in ensuring political stability. Regardless of whether this statement is deemed sensitive or not, it is the reality," he added.

Two days ago, Pahang Bersatu secretary Saifuddin Abdullah said should his party, Umno and PAS form an alliance for the next general election, the question of which party should be dominant does not arise.

Instead, he said all parties should work together in the public's interest and not be tied to old political frameworks.

"(The question of) siapa tumpang-menumpang (who is piggybacking) or being dominant should not arise among Malay parties... Our alliance should be given the opportunity to serve," Bernama reported Saifuddin as telling reporters in Kuantan. - Mkini