PORT KLANG, Feb 3 — Umno’s and PAS’ food flotilla to Myanmar shows that Malaysians and political parties can come together for a common cause, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today.

According to the prime minister and Umno president, the "Food Flotilla Mission for Myanmar” was a collaboration between Umno, PAS and other non-governmental organisations, including representatives from 13 nations.

"Today, you see Umno and PAS sitting together for this goodwill effort...That shows how united we Malaysians are,” he said before flagging off the vessel at Boustead Cruise Terminal.

Also present at the event was PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.

According to Najib, Umno and PAS members were among the 50 volunteers aboard the Nautical Aliya.

The vessel carries 2,200 tonnes of food and medicine to affected communities in Sittwe, Myanmar’s western Rakhine state.

The mission, organised by 1Malaysia Putera Club (KP1M), the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organisations (MAPIM) and Turkiye Diyanet Vakfi (TDV), is expected to arrive at Yangon, Myanmar, on February 9.

From Yangon, KP1M president Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim said the Myanmar government will transport the goods to Sittwe.

Abdul Azeez said after berthing in Myanmar for about nine hours, the vessel will proceed to Teknaf, Bangladesh, to provide humanitarian assistance to 150,000 Rohingya refugees there.