No Muafakat seats as long as PAS is with Bersatu - Umno man

 

There will be no “Muafakat Nasional seats” between Umno and PAS in the upcoming 15th general election (GE15) as long as the Islamist party continues to favour Bersatu, said Umno supreme council member Razlan Rafii.

Commenting on a PAS leader’s proposal to create Muafakat Nasional seats, Razlan said it would be meaningless as Bersatu has “poisoned” the relationship between Umno and PAS.

“If PAS and Umno stayed with the original Muafakat formula, it would not have turned out like this.

“With Muafakat, we could have formed a government with a large majority but the milk has been spilt, Bersatu has poisoned the relationship between PAS and Umno.

“For Umno, it is simple. As long as there is Bersatu, there will not be any cooperation. We do not want to have an agreement behind the scenes that will end with getting stabbed by trickery that has become ingrained in Bersatu politics,” Razlan (above) said to Malaysiakini.

He pointed out that Bersatu and PAS had joined forces in the Johor state polls earlier this year and contested against Umno.

Razlan was responding to a comment by central PAS committee member Mohd Zuhdi Marzuki who yesterday said the Islamist party needs to immediately find a way to create “Muafakat Nasional seats” with Umno-BN.

Zuhdi said GE15 could happen any time now and Muafakat is one way to stop Pakatan Harapan from making gains.

Elaborating on this, Zuhdi, the political secretary to the environment and water minister, said Malay parties are currently divided into various coalitions including BN, Perikatan Nasional (PN), and Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA).

Razlan said while this may be the case, the Harapan coalition is also facing a similar situation.

“Harapan is in a divided situation as well. PKR will not use the Harapan logo for the general election while DAP and Amanah will continue to use it,” he said.

Umno previously collaborated with PAS through Muafakat after BN’s collapse in the last general election.

The initial cooperation was smooth sailing up until PAS decided to join the PN coalition with Bersatu, an Umno splinter party.

Umno’s relationship with PAS became increasingly strained when both parties clashed in the Malacca and Johor state elections. - Mkini