Forget about Umno-PAS reunion, says Puad

The Umno Supreme Council member says the death of Muafakat Nasional has put paid to any notion of reconciliation at this time.

(FMT) – Any cooperation between Umno and PAS should not be a consideration at this time, Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi said today.

He added that, as the foundation of the reunification would be politics, any supposed cooperation would not last, let alone be beneficial.

“The opportunity has been lost since the failure of Muafakat Nasional (MN) because, at that time, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and Rome Statute issues united the two parties.

“However, when political factors came into play, they hindered that cooperation,” Puad said in a statement on Facebook, adding that any alignment would only serve as a “marriage of convenience”, in view of Umno’s defeat in the Kemaman by-election last Saturday.

On Monday, Umno Supreme Council member Isham Jalil said PAS vice-president Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar could become the prime minister if PN succeeds in wooing Umno again before the next general election, following the Terengganu menteri besar’s victory in Kemaman.

However, PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said any link-up with Umno must go through the PN platform and include Bersatu.

MN was formed in 2019, following Umno’s defeat in the 2018 general election, with a view to spurring ummah unity in the opposition.

However, the alliance was short-lived and unofficially ended in July 2020 when PAS decided it also wanted to align with Bersatu under the PN banner, with Umno averse to siding with its splinter party.