PAS: Muhammad’s Umno return a ‘slap in the face’ to Noh Omar

(FMT) – PAS veep Iskandar Abdul Samad says grand welcome accorded to former Selangor MB Muhammad Muhammad Taib suggests he will now lead the Umno charge to wrest the state.

The return of Muhammad Muhammad Taib to Umno will serve to threaten the position of Selangor Umno liaison committee chief Noh Omar as the person leading the charge to regain the state.

This was the conclusion by PAS vice-president Iskandar Abdul Samad, who called the move by Prime Minister Najib Razak to welcome the former Selangor menteri besar with a grand announcement on Sunday as an indication that he wants Muhammad to lead the party in the state.

“When the prime minister made a grand announcement that Muhammad was rejoining Umno, it was as if he wanted the task of wresting the state to be given to Muhammad. This may just challenge Noh,” Iskandar was quoted as saying by New Straits Times (NST).

He added that Muhammad’s return to Umno is akin to a slap in the face for Noh Omar, who is also urban wellbeing, housing and local government minister.

Meanwhile, Iskandar also dismissed speculation that PAS state assemblymen would be leaving the party for Umno, saying there was no reason for them to do so as the Selangor government led by PKR was functioning well.

He was referring to rumours that Muhammad would be roping in several assemblymen, including those from PAS, to join Umno.

“If the PAS assemblymen do so, it would just reduce them to becoming part of the opposition in Selangor.

“So, I do not see that happening. Why would we want to do so when the state government is functioning well and gives the best services to the people?” Iskandar was quoted as saying by the daily.

Rumours have been spreading on social media that Muhammad was to have brought eight PKR assemblymen with him when he left the Pakatan Harapan component to rejoin Umno. However, that did not materialise.

Muhammad, better known as Mat Taib, had been an Umno and Barisan Nasional member from 1964 till 2013, when he joined PAS. He quit the Islamist party in September 2015 following the demise of Pakatan Rakyat.

He then joined PKR as an ordinary member. At the time, he was quoted as saying that he joined PKR because he wanted a strong alternative government to be formed.

Iskandar chided Muhammad’s action, accusing the latter of treating politics like a “game of football”.

“Maybe he is like a footballer, switching many clubs. Perhaps he thinks that politics is like football, going here and there. It is hard for the people to give their trust to someone like that,” Iskandar told NST.