Umno-PAS ties strong despite differences over budget, says PAS youth

 

Umno’s Najib Razak and PAS MP Fadhli Shaari differ on need for blanket loan moratorium and EPF withdrawals in 2021 Budget.

PETALING JAYA: The relationship between political giants PAS and Umno in Muafakat Nasional (MN) remains strong, contrary to the perception being played up by certain quarters, says PAS Youth chief Khairil Nizam Khiruddin.

He said his party’s decision to give unconditional support for Perikatan Nasional (PN) was not an issue with its MN ally, Umno.

Talks of a rift between the two parties surfaced recently when former Umno veterans association secretary-general Mustapha Yaakub admitted that the party’s ties with PAS were not as close as before, although there were no serious disagreements.

The relationship took another knock after Pasir Mas MP Ahmad Fadhli Shaari described Barisan Nasional (BN) Backbenchers’ Club’s conditional support for the budget as similar to the “Puteri Gunung Ledang” legend.

Fadhli criticised former prime minister Najib Razak for urging the government to extend the loan moratorium and allow the people to withdraw as much as RM10,000 from their Employees Provident Fund Account 1.

Nonetheless, while he admitted that PAS’s stand on the budget was different to BN’s, he denied that the parties were clashing.

“Only with that matter (the conditional support for the budget) I disagree. I didn’t mean to be insulting, I said it with respect. If it was hurtful, I apologise, but I only wanted to make my meaning clear,” he said in a Facebook post.

In a response on Facebook, Najib said he did not hold any grudges and would still be friends with his PAS counterpart.

Elaborating on claims that Umno was not happy that its MN partner formed the PN coalition with PPBM, Khairil said there was no protest whatsoever contrary to speculation.

“PN’s formation was known to Umno and was discussed at the central MN meeting. Umno did not stand in our way,” he told FMT.

He said claims that PAS wanted to leave Umno and MN after joining PN were not true at all, adding that his party joining PN was similar to Umno being in BN.

“PAS is a component party of PN, like Umno in BN. There are no differences at all. We will continue strengthening the relationship in MN,” he said. - FMT