PUTRAJAYA, Aug 19 ― The presidents of PAS and Umno have sent a letter inviting Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia to officially join the Muafakat Nasional (MN) pact, PAS secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan said.

Speaking to the media here, the de facto law minister said that he had personally sighted the letter and can confirm its authenticity.

“Okay, I can tell here that the presidents of Umno and PAS jointly sent an invitation letter to the president of Bersatu. So to say that the grassroots members of Umno oppose this just won't do, because the Umno president signed [the letter].

"I personally can confirm that the Umno president signed the letter together with the PAS president and sent it to Bersatu, inviting Bersatu to officially enter into MN. So I cannot comment. I can just tell it as it is," he added.

Advertisement

Takiyuddin was asked to respond to Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan’s statement, in which he said that his party’s ordinary members opposed to having Bersatu in MN.

The Umno deputy president told Free Malaysia Today (FMT) that his party’s grassroots have not forgotten Bersatu’s attacks against his party, when the two were then rivals, prior to the historic 14th general election.

In the interview with FMT, Mohamad said that the idea to include Bersatu in MN should have been put before the Umno supreme council rather than leaving the matter to the MN steering committee, as party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi did.

Advertisement

Mohamad asserted that the feedback he received from grassroots members showed a general rejection of Bersatu, which is a splinter party of Umno.

Former Umno president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad formed Bersatu in 2016 after he left Umno following a failed campaign to have the Malay nationalist party remove Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the prime minister.

On Sunday, BN secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar Musa said Bersatu’s entry into MN has been provisionally approved.

Zahid earlier said that the views of Umno's grassroots would be considered before MN finalises its decision on Bersatu’s entry but did not elaborate.