ALOR SETAR, March 8 ― Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) deputy president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Tun Dr Mahathir today expressed doubt over the sincerity of the Umno-PAS collaboration which is said to be aimed at uniting the community.
The Kedah Menteri Besar said Bersatu had once extended ”hands of friendship” towards PAS for the same intention but it was rejected.
“But now, the ‘mungkar’ (breaking God’s laws) people (Umno) is their choice for collaboration,” he told reporters after opening the general meeting of the Sekolah Kebangsaan Iskandar Alumni Association here.
He said there was assumption that the collaboration was only for the sake of political interests of the respective parties which was definitely not healthy for the country’s political landscape.
Mukhriz was commenting on the recent official announcement of political collaboration between Umno and PAS.
Mukhriz also expected that the cooperation would not last long as it was not built on a strong basis as well as PAS had previously failed to keep its promise.
“I was given a mandate to head Bersatu to negotiate with PAS which was then led by its deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man and after five or six negotiations, (we) finally reached a consensus.
“But after in-depth discussions and the agreement was signed in the afternoon, it was withdrawn in the evening, so according to my personal experience, PAS can make promise but cannot fulfill it,” he said.
Asked on allegations that Umno-PAS cooperation would affect the political scene in Kedah, Mukhriz said the party would continue to convince the people that Pakatan Harapan (PH) was serious in defending the fate of Malays as well as other races. ― Bernama
