As tensions continue to rise in the relationship between Umno and its splinter party, leaders on both sides are calling for their ally, PAS, to state its support firmly.
The Islamist party appears to be under pressure to decide whether to remain a component partner of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition with Bersatu or defend the idea of Muafakat Nasional with Umno.
"I hope PAS can be more firm with its stand when looking at its cooperation between (working with) Bersatu and Umno," said Kelantan Umno chairperson Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub when contacted by Malaysiakini today.
Umno supreme council member Razlan Rafii also believes that the PAS grassroots still want to work with his party.
“I believe that the grassroots of PAS also want Umno to continue to work together to create the victory that we desired when we both became the opposition.
"We are appealing for the unity of the ummah (Malay-Muslim community) to PAS to maintain Muafakat and we will all enter the general election (GE) for the sake of a precise union," he said.
Razlan added that he hoped PAS would still remember the committed collaboration of the two parties through the Muafakat charter.
"The tears that fell in PWTC (Putra World Trade Center) are still fresh in the memory of each of the Malays. They love and are happy with this union.
"It does not come easily, it started on the stage of the ummah unification talks. Umno leaders took the stage, apologised to PAS members, and PAS leaders took the stage to apologise to Umno members over the negative relations between PAS and Umno.
"That is the difference between the marriage of PAS and Umno if you want to compare with the sweetheart which is Bersatu," he added.
Umno's Arau MP Shahidan Kassim, on the other hand, said PAS would have an advantage if it stays with Umno.
'If Bersatu wants to be good friends, they should be sincere'
"If PAS goes with Bersatu without Umno, the party which now has 18 seats may have nine left, but if it goes with Umno, PAS will get 26 seats (in the next GE)," Shahidan said.
Still hoping that his party can reach an agreement with Bersatu, he said that it would be good for the administration of the country.
"If Bersatu wants to be friends with sincerity and goodwill, all these Malay parties can rule this country and we can get enough support to have a two-thirds majority," he said.
For the record, after the Pakatan Harapan government was overthrown through the Sheraton Move, Bersatu formed a new government through loose cooperation with several other parties including Umno and BN.
It then saw the emergence of the PN coalition with PAS as one of the component parties while Umno and BN remained outside the coalition.
Tensions between the parties have escalated with allegations that Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was willing to pull out of supporting Bersatu's Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and back PKR president Anwar Ibrahim instead.
Not only that, the dispute between Umno and Bersatu was further aggravated following an allegation that Bersatu was 'stealing' and 'buying' Umno members.
As a result, yesterday, the Umno supreme council meeting chaired by Zahid decided to bring the motion of the party's strained relationship with Bersatu to the Umno general assembly, scheduled for Jan 31.
Umno Information chief Shahril Hamdan said the supreme council made that decision after considering the motions submitted by 189 of the party's 191 divisions, calling for an end to their cooperation with Bersatu.
Meanwhile, Bersatu, in a meeting of its highest leadership council yesterday, stressed that all parties involved in PN think that holding the GE in the near future is not a good move.
Recently, PAS said its party refused to be involved in disputes between allies and instead called on them to be open-minded.
Its secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said his party believes that only strong unity can lead to the development of a united country.
PAS needs to make safe and wise decisions
Meanwhile, Bersatu central committee member Dr Muhammad Faiz Na'aman said he is confident that PAS will not leave the PN government.
“I am confident that PAS will not choose that path because it will affect the party as well. So PAS is also acting wisely,” he said.
He added that Bersatu did not prevent any PN component partners from cooperating with other parties, but admitted that its party would be affected if PAS continued with Muafakat.
“We have never said a word to PAS on this but we hope PAS can see which parties are more trustworthy in the long run.
“We cannot do anything if PAS chooses Muafakat and leaves PN. It, to some extent, has an effect (on Bersatu). I do not deny,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal, also said his party left it to PAS to make a decision.
He added that he was confident PAS would make the best decision to resolve the situation and Bersatu was also ready for any eventuality.
“We (Bersatu) leave it to PAS and they will also meet this Saturday and I am sure they will make the best decision to clear the situation.
"On the Bersatu side, we are ready for any possibility and our main focus is to resolve the flood problems and we do not want to hold the GE during the Covid-19 pandemic, which is different from Umno," he added. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.