After Hadi’s veiled swipe, Nazri insists Umno and Islamist party’s members on great terms

KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 ― PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s call for Muslim groups to unite under Perikatan Nasional (PN) did not reflect the sentiment of hs party’s grassroots, Umno’s Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said today.

Commenting on Hadi’s call that also carried an indirect rebuke of Umno, the former Barisan Nasional secretary-general told Free Malaysia Today that at the grassroots level, the two Muafakat Nasional allies remained close, especially in his constituency.

“That’s his party’s stand but for me as an Umno MP, on the ground, we are working with our PAS friends.

“I’ve been in politics for about 40 years now. I know what it’s all about, this is just some window-dressing statement,” he was quoted as saying.

Nazri expressed his confidence that the MN would remain together in facing the next general election, adding that the PAS grassroots preferred this.

On Wednesday, PAS and Bersatu said they will continue cooperating for the 15th general election, after Umno decided that it will treat Bersatu as a rival then.

“There are also some PAS leaders who are MPs who are sympathetic toward us. So I’m not worried about Hadi’s statement,” he said.

He also said Bersatu was depending on PAS for its network as it lacked its own grassroots movement.

Nazri then reiterated that his party’s dispute was with Bersatu, adding that politics was all about winning seats and Umno could not allow Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s party to claim seats Umno won in the election and only lost due to party-hopping.

“Of course, PAS has no issue with them. The flower party didn’t steal their MPs, but we have issues with the flower party,” he said, referring to Bersatu’s logo.

He said that Umno’s rejection of PN did not mean that his party did not want to continue being friends with PAS.

Earlier today, Hadi called for a new alliance to save the country and invited Muslim groups to rally under PN with PAS and Bersatu, saying his party was against attempts to deviate from MN’s original aim of Malay-Muslim unity.