Selangor PAS delegate wants guideline for new-level ties with Umno

PAS MUKTAMAR | A PAS central delegate today said it was acceptable for party leaders to officiate Umno branch annual general meetings but it wouldn't be right for Umno to do the same for PAS meetings.

In debating in support of a motion by the party's Dewan Ulama for PAS and Umno to formalise their political cooperation, Selangor PAS delegate Shafie Ngah said the party should come up with a guideline.

This, he said, was to assist grassroots members in executing the upgraded tahaluf siyasi concept - the same principle adopted by PAS when part of the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat federal opposition.

"Because it has already happened at the branch level where AGMs were officiated by leaders from another party. For now, the invitations come from Umno for PAS leaders to officiate, and that's okay.

"But next time, in the absence of a guideline, if a PAS branch invites Umno leaders to officiate, to me that is not right at all," said Shafie at the 65th PAS muktamar (general assembly) at the Sukpa indoor stadium in Kuantan.

In pursuing the new cooperation with Umno and other allies, Shafie also urged PAS to not forget its existing Gagasan Sejahtera partners Ikatan and Berjasa.

Meanwhile, the motion tabled by PAS Dewan Ulama central committee member Mohd Asri Mat Daud received almost unanimous support from the delegates.

In tabling the motion, Asri said the time had come for PAS to upgrade its political cooperation with Umno from taawun siyasi to tahaluf siyasi - concepts recognised since the time of the Prophet Muhammad and guided by the principles of Islam.

"[...] if in the past we had formal ties with DAP, today there is nothing wrong for us to engage in a similar tahaluf with Umno," he said.

The passing of today's motion marks a new level in PAS' political cooperation with Umno, forged in the name of Malay-Muslim unity after last year's 14th general election.

Aside from Shafie, two other delegates also took part in debating the motion. - Mkini