Muslim unity irrelevant for now, says Umno man

 

Abdul Rahman Dahlan challenges PPBM to hand over the prime minister’s post to Umno, the party with the most MPs, if ‘it wants Muslim unity so much’.

PETALING JAYA: An Umno Supreme Council member says talk about Muslim unity is irrelevant for the time being, adding that it should only be the focus after the next general election (GE15).

Abdul Rahman Dahlan said that this does not mean that Umno is dismissing the matter as there are other issues to focus on, such as political stability.

“When we talk about the unity of the ummah, for me, this is not so relevant in the context right now.

“Umno, when we win the next general election (GE15), we will become the core party that forms the government and our main agenda will be Muslim unity,” he said at a forum tonight.

Rahman’s comments come in the wake of PAS’ call for unity among Malay-Muslim political parties after Umno decided it would not cooperate with PPBM and Perikatan Nasional (PN) for GE15.

The former federal minister went on to challenge PPBM to give the prime minister’s post to Umno if it was really concerned about Muslim unity.

“They must recognise Umno as the ‘biggest party with the most MPs’.

“If (PPBM) wants Muslim unity so much, what’s wrong with making such sacrifices (of giving up the post)? But is PPBM really willing to hand over the PM’s post to Umno?” he asked.

Commenting on Umno’s decision to stop cooperating with PPBM, Rahman said the latter should be relieved, especially when it comes to seat allocations.

He went on to suggest that PPBM could now contest in all 222 parliamentary seats, including seats MPs had won under the Umno ticket prior to defecting to PPBM.

“In my view, there is no need to have a headache over this.” - FMT