Umno meets Pas before separating
SHAH ALAM - Umno youth chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki has shared a photo of a meeting between the presidents and deputy presidents of Umno and Pas respectively on Wednesday, a day before Pas decided to stay with Perikatan Nasioanal (PN).
The photo showed Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, its deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan with Pas president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang and its deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man having a meal together.
Asyraf said the meeting was Umno's final attempt to save Muafakat Nasional (MN).
He added that MN was established together during the 22 months being the opposition to end decades of political enmity which affected the relationship between Muslims.
"That was after a Pas top leader conveyed a message that the Pas Syura Council and the Pas Muktamar had made a resolution for the Pas and Umno relationship to be restored.
“The Pas Ulama Council was also said to have made a similar resolution.
"Umno was big-hearted enough to accept Pas back despite being betrayed when Pas agreed to register PN with Bersatu while denying it several times in the MN committee meetings,” he said in a Facebook post on Friday.
On Thursday, Pas decided to strengthen its cooperation within PN after the party’s committee meeting was held in Kuala Lumpur.
Abdul Hadi said the decision was made based on the principle of unifying the ummah.
At the same time, Pas will finalise discussions with PN regarding the issue of the division of seats that will be contested at the state level.
Asyraf added that like the previous Melaka state election, Umno offered five winnable seats in the State Legislative Assembly for Pas to contest even though Bersatu promised 11 seats to Pas.
“Similarly in the meeting, Pas insisted that if it was with PN, Bersatu promised it could win 47 seats.
"However, for Umno, the negotiations to revive MN this time was bigger than just the calculation of seats," Asyraf said.
He said as a party with a struggle, Umno has never lost its spirit even though “honey was reciprocated with poison”.
