ONCE BITTEN TWICE SHY – BUT ‘OUT OF OPTIONS’ UMNO & PAS ARE TOO DESPERATE TO CARE: BITTERLY DIVORCED BEFORE, YET UMNO & PAS CROW ABOUT SEALING A ‘LASTING DEAL’ THE SECOND TIME AROUND

THE imminent Umno and PAS alliance will last as both Malay parties are making an effort to explain the charter to their grassroots, said Mohamad Hasan.

The last time when PAS was in coalition with Umno was when Barisan Nasional was formed, the Umno deputy president said.

“Our cooperation is not new, we worked together before but it only lasted five years.

“It didn’t reach the grassroots because there was no consensus before, there was no explanation given to the members and only the leaders who were discussing it,” he said yesterday at a joint ceramah with PAS in Rantau.

The Islamist party left BN coalition over policy differences in 1978 and since then, had been its fiercest rival for support among the Malay ground.

However, following its defeat in the last general election, the lynchpin BN party has been working informally with its former nemesis and had scored a hat-trick of by-election victories.

BN candidates won the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat and Semenyih state seat in Selangor and Rantau in Negri Sembilan.

The victories were credited to the Malay parties uniting the Malay ground into a vote bloc.

Mohamad or Mat Hassan as he is known said the Malay Muslim unity charter will be more inclusive for all races after it is signed on September 14.

“The charter will be frame this political cooperation and after it is signed, every slogan used will become more inclusive. It will not be a call Muslim unity as we will include non-Muslims,” he said.

Umno and PAS will sign a charter to form a political cooperation this month after months of discussion.

Mohamad said the collaboration is important to show a solid understanding between two biggest Malay parties to face the next general election.

“This partnership is based on race and religion. There is nothing that can break this apart unless we are betrayed.

“When the older generation is longer here, the young must continue to safeguard the charter. This is what I am trying to explain to the grassroots.”

– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com