KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 — Despite a turbulent relationship, Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the cooperation with PAS through Muafakat Nasional (MN) had yet to end.
“MN has not ended yet. It is not over even though we have reached the point of saying the final words.
“But to explain, as I said before, we will cooperate with those who are loyal, not those who play in multiple pools,” he said during a press conference after officiating the Umno’s Women, Youth and Puteri Wing Annual General Assembly at the World Trade Centre here today.
When asked why PAS, who had been invited to Umno’s general assembly since MN was established in 2018, would not be making it this year, Mohamad simply put it down to the current standard operating procedure (SOP) for Covid-19.
“Because of space constraints, because of the SOP,” he said without elaborating further.
Umno and PAS traded barbs and campaigned openly against each other in the run-up to the Johor state election despite both being in government together.
In February, PAS information chief Khairil Nizam Khirudin said PAS is ready to cut all ties with Umno as its patience was wearing thin after what it viewed as betrayals by certain factions within its MN partner.
Before that, both parties bickered openly over seat allocations for the Johor polls, with Umno information chief Shahril Sufian Hamdan criticising PAS leader Mokhtar Senik for accusing Umno of being power hungry over reports that it would only allocate four seats to PAS if both parties cooperated for the election.
