Puad mocks ‘Bersatu outcast’ Redzuan’s dream of Malay political unity

The Umno leader says Redzuan Yusof is a nobody in Bersatu to be making such a proposal, while a PAS leader also dismisses the suggestion.

(FMT) – An Umno leader has mocked Bersatu Supreme Council member Redzuan Yusof over his proposal for the three major Malay-Muslim parties – Umno, PAS and Bersatu – to unite.

Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi said Redzuan’s narrative was stale and that the former minister was a nobody in Bersatu to be making such a proposal.

“Who is Redzuan to dream of unifying the Malay parties when he is an outcast in Bersatu, which in itself is divided,” Puad told FMT.

PAS Youth information chief Nadzir Helmi also dismissed Redzuan’s call, saying it was not possible as long as Umno continued rejecting PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.

“If they do not want to work with our party president, that means there can be no cooperation with PAS,” he said.

Puad reiterated that the opportunity to work with Umno had passed, as the party had enough of PAS and Bersatu and did not want to repeat its past mistake. “Umno is more interested in looking for a politically honest partner to share power,” he added.

Redzuan was quoted by Utusan Malaysia on Thursday as saying he would engage Umno, PAS and Bersatu leaders with a “diplomatic strategy” to form a coalition among the three Malay-based parties.

He said this was necessary to strengthen the political standing of the Malays, which he added had been fragmented by internal conflict.

Umno and PAS were allies in the Muafakat Nasional charter signed in 2019, but ties soured in 2020 after PAS formed the Perikatan Nasional coalition with Bersatu, and proposed that Bersatu, an Umno splinter, should join the MN alliance. Umno rejected the proposal.

However, all three parties continued to be partners in the federal government until the November 2022 general election, which led to Umno backing Anwar Ibrahim to become the 10th prime minister.

In July, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the party would not work with PAS as long as Hadi remains the party’s president. In a tit-for-tat retort, PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the party would not collaborate with Umno as long as Zahid is the president.