PAS ceasefire call: Umno says 'wait and see'

 

JOHOR POLLS | Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan today said the party will adopt a wait and see approach before agreeing to declare a "ceasefire " as proposed by PAS for the ongoing state polls.

"We will wait and see how their speakers are (acting) after this.

"We hope their speakers will not 'whack' Umno and BN. We will wait and see," Ahmad told reporters at the Umno building in Johor Bahru after the official announcement for BN candidates this morning.

He said this when asked for a response to PAS spiritual leader Hashim Jasin who had urged PAS and Umno leaders to observe a ceasefire during the forthcoming Johor Legislative Assembly election.

Ahmad earlier joined Umno and BN leaders led by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Johor Umno chief Hasni Mohammad who announced 41 BN candidates comprising 37 from Umno and four from MIC.

The remaining 15 seats will be contested by MCA candidates who have yet to be revealed.

Speaking to Malaysiakini yesterday, Hashim said party leaders must appreciate what has been built through the Muafakat Nasional coalition and think of Muslim interests in the long term.

"It seems that we cannot avoid multi-corner contests (with Umno during the Johor elections). I urge everyone to stop attacking one another.

"Think long-term. We must move forward. We must unite. Forget old wounds," he had said.

Ahmad said he had personally not launched any salvo against PAS, whose ties with Umno had strained after the Islamist party's decision to face the Johor polls with Perikatan Nasional (PN)

"Personally I did not 'whack' PAS," said the Pontian MP, adding there was also no instruction for BN to target PAS.

On Jan 28, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang made the now-infamous "lame duck" reference on Umno.

At the time, Hadi said PAS had nursed Umno back to health after the 2018 general election, describing Umno as a "lame duck" that was struggling after losing the national polls.

Now that Umno was on its feet again, Hadi said the party was turning its back on PAS.

Following the 2018 general election, Umno and PAS had explored the possibility of an electoral pact after decades of animosity.

This culminated in the Muafakat Nasional pact in Sept 2019. However, PAS joined the PN coalition the following year, a move that Umno could not accept.

PN was formed by Bersatu, the latest Umno splinter party.

The "lame duck" remark had sparked a storm among Umno figures, with Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi likening Hadi to a "zoologist". - Mkini