Could PAS work with Amanah if 15 MPs jumped to splinter party, asks Umno sec-gen

 

If PAS wants to understand the tense relationship between Umno and Bersatu, then the party needs to imagine itself facing the same situation with its splinter party Amanah, said Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan.

Bersatu a splinter party that took away 15 seats won by Umno in the 14th general election (GE14), he said, adding that the party has also been pinching Umno members at the grassroots level.

In fact, as the party's secretary-general, he said he had to sign the dismissal letters of many Umno members because they joined Bersatu.

“This is one of the reasons why Umno and Bersatu cannot be (compatible).

“If PAS asks, what is this fight? I want to tell them, PAS, which has 18 seats, imagine if out of the 18, say 15 jump to Amanah.

“After that, we try to force PAS, which has a few seats left, to be on good terms with Amanah. Would that be okay?” Ahmad asked during a live interview on Umno Online last night.

Amanah, which has 11 MPs, is a splinter party of PAS and a key component of the Pakatan Harapan coalition. The party was formed in 2015 by PAS progressives who were frozen out of party elections.

Since Bersatu left Harapan to form the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government last year, it has collaborated with Umno, PAS, and absorbed a group of PKR MPs who defected.

However, prior to the Sheraton Move, long-time rivals PAS and Umno had worked closely under the Muafakat Nasional coalition, which was said to be a factor in helping them win seven by-elections.

Despite that alliance, the relationship between Umno and Bersatu has been strained since the beginning of the PN administration, possibly in part due to Umno's resentment over the distribution of posts in Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's cabinet.

At Umno's Annual General Assembly last month, the party decided to cease cooperation with Bersatu by GE15, despite the decision being opposed by some Umno figures.

Even so, PAS is still hanging on to hopes of working with both Umno and Bersatu in GE15 so that the coalition can enjoy a big win.

In GE14, PAS only won 18 out of 158 parliamentary seats it contested.

Umno, on the other hand, won 54 of the 121 seats it contested (BN won 79 seats in total), making it the party to win the most seats in GE14.

After GE14, Umno began to lose many seats in a string of defections with 15 changing hands to Bersatu.

Umno now has 38 parliamentary seats left while Bersatu's ranks have swelled. - Mkini