KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — To Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, the Muafakat Nasional (MN) accord his party inked with PAS is dead.
Mingguan Malaysia today reported the politician, better known as Ku Li, saying the pact died when PAS chose to stick with the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition when Umno decided to pull support for Bersatu.
Bersatu is the leading component party in the registered PN, as is PAS; Umno was never a member. However, certain politicians from all three parties are still working with each other at both the federal and some state governments.
The Umno-PAS MN was never formally registered with the Registrar of Societies.
“I feel that this [accord] is in the grave. Even though there are those who say it still has its purpose, they’re lying to us. The truth is, MN does not exist anymore.
“If Umno does not want to be part of PN, but PAS insisted on joining PN, then we have a difference of stances, they obviously care more for positions in the government.
“So from my perspective, MN is already dead, it died a long time ago, until the grave has become unmarked,” Tengku Razaleigh was quoted telling reporters after officiating the Umno division meeting in Jeram Tekoh, Kelantan.
According to the Gua Musang MP, the reason the MN coalition failed is due to the insincerity from the lower ranks of the PAS party in working together with Umno.
“Among the higher ups, I’m not sure, but there is definitely discontent in the lower ranks. For example, we [Umno] built a mosque in Gua Musang for the people, and PAS built another building right next to it to stop our efforts.
“It’s so obvious that they do not want to accept anything that we do, even if it’s in the name of religion or the people,” he was quoted saying.
At his party’s annual congress yesterday, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said the Islamist party will stay with PN but will also continue to strengthen enhancing ties with Umno through MN for the 15th general election.
Abdul Hadi said MN provides the platform for Malaysia’s Muslim community to unite and protect their common causes, while PN is a more diverse coalition it needs.
Abdul Hadi also said that PAS should not be confined to any consensus where it is placed as merely a passenger in the country’s political journey.
Instead, he said the Islamic party needs to be in the driving seat with their allies to succeed in attracting the support of the people to save the country with Islam.
