Umno and PAS flirt with ‘intellectual’ talk

PAS Youth secretary Kamaruzaman Mohamad described the joint secretariat to be set up as just a ‘technical secretariat’ which will “discuss the time, date, place, participants and format" of the discourse.

Honeymah Dylyani, Malaysian Mirror

Is it another wayang kulit (shadow play) or a genuine attempt to mend fences? 

In an unexpected move amid the mudslinging between their parent bodies, the Youth movements of arch-rivals Umno and PAS have agreed to hold what they describe as “intellectual discussions” among the young members of their parties.

PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan and Umno Youth deputy head Razali Ibrahim announced the talks at a press conference at Parliament House today.

The two wings agreed to form a joint-secretariat from which they will work and decide on the agenda of the talks, which will focus on national issues.

They said they have found “common grounds” to form the secretariat.

'First of many fruitful discussions'

Earlier, Nasrudin handed an official letter to Razali, inviting Umno Youth for the discussion.Umno and PAS had been at loggerheads for most part of the country’s more than 50 years of Independence. There was only a brief spell of camaraderie, when PAS was a component of the 13-party Barisan Nasional at the time it was formed in the early 1970s.

After last year’s general election, when voters gave more than one-third of the ballot count to the Pakatan Rakyat, several attempts were made to bring PAS and Umno to the discussion table and to even form a unity government between them.

More recently, PAS spiritual advisor Nik Aziz Nik Mat invited Umno president Najib Abdul Razak to debate with him on Muslim unity. The prime minister turned down the offer, saying that an argument between two persons would not resolve any issues.

Such ideas and rhetorical exchanges had remained just talk among some small circles and the population at large, including the grassroots Umno and PAS members, are no longer in the mood to cheer whenever another powwow proposition comes along.

However, Nasrudin and Razali said they were positive that their programme would be the ‘first of many fruitful discussions to address issues of national interest.’

Intellectual manner to resolve issues

Nasrudin said he had initially suggested the topic, Is it true Umno's struggle does not conform to Islam?, saying that the discussion would be "on principles, the direction of the country, and Muslim Malaysians".

“We hope this is an initial point to engage in an intellectual manner to solve issues," he said, adding that his side had suggested making the discussions public so that others could see how the two parties resolve problems via an intellectual approach.

Razali stressed that commitment to such a dialogue is for the betterment of the country.

"This is not to gain political mileage but to tackle universal issues of importance to Malaysians," he said. "If we work on this together honestly and with trust, I think many problems can be solved."

Razali said the secretariat will sort out issues related to logistics and technicalities before any timeframe is set for the talks.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin described the move as courageous although he felt PAS Youth should have first informed their counterparts in Pakatan about the planned talks.

He said he may extend an invitation to the Youth wings of the MCA, Gerakan, MIC and other components of Barisan.

He agreed to the formation of the joint secretariat, suggesting that it should be set up after the July 14 by-election in Manik Urai.

However, six hours after the press conference by Nasrudin and Razali, PAS Youth released a statement to say the proposed meeting was only to discuss ‘whether Umno’s struggle is against Islam.’

A technical secretariat

PAS Youth secretary Kamaruzaman Mohamad described the joint secretariat to be set up as just a ‘technical secretariat’ which will “discuss the time, date, place, participants and format" of the discourse.

"The discourse is a follow-up to the challenge by Nik Aziz for a debate with Najib over the deviation of Umno's struggle," he said.

"It also follows an earlier challenge for a debate by Kelantan Umno Youth to Nik Aziz over the same issue.'Therefore, the suggestion for the discourse was brought up to find the truth regarding the issue intellectually." 

The new round of flirting between Umno and PAS has upset DAP Youth chief Anthony Loke. “We know nothing about it. This intellectual discussion between the two is not a Pakatan initiative and it was never raised in the Pakatan council of leaders meeting,” he said.

He added that PAS Youth should have at least informed the Pakatan leadership of its intentions.

“I don't know why they had to bring it up at this juncture, especially with the approaching Manik Urai by-election where PAS will fight Umno," said Loke.

What PKR thinks

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who was at the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya today, told reporters he did not know the details when asked about the planned “intellectual” discussion between Umno Youth and PAS Youth.

Pressed for his views on how this latest round of talks will affect Pakatan ties, he said “I will let the PAS leaders discuss it first.”                                                                                                                                                   

On the other hand,  Tian Chua, PKR strategic affairs director said, “This is the lower-rung version of the debate or talks on national issues. Pakatan stands by its offer to begin discussions on important issues and it is good for the Youth wings to make the start,”

He said the Pakatan Youth wings were to have met on Monday to discuss the formation of a Pakatan Youth Council but the meeting was cancelled, adding he was willing to raise the matter with the coalition’s central committee.