KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — Umno Youth chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said today that his party’s negotiations for political cooperation with PAS failed over seat allocations.
On a Facebook post today, Asyraf went on to claim Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) promised PAS 47 “winnable” seats for the 15th general election (GE15).
“As in the previous Melaka state election, (when) Umno offered five winnable state seats to PAS to contest even though PPBM (Bersatu) promised 11 seats to PAS.
“Likewise, at this meeting, PAS insisted that if it stayed with PN, PPBM promised PAS could win 47 seats,” he said.
He also posted photos of Umno’s top two leaders, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, in a meeting with their PAS counterparts, Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang and Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.
Asyraf added that Umno had tried its best to save the cooperation through Muafakat Nasional (MN), agreeing to the meeting after being approached by a senior PAS leader who acted as an envoy for the PAS Shura Council.
He said Umno still agreed to meet with PAS even after it chose to be a founding member of PN together with Bersatu, despite forming the MN charter with Umno before that.
Asyraf said that for Umno, the negotiation to revive MN went beyond what seats could be gained in the general election, adding that his party would soldier on despite being snubbed.
“The struggle for religion, nation and homeland is the foundation that will be expanded, because Umno is confident, the record of the long journey has witnessed a lot, cooperation based on interests rather than mere sincerity, only leads to betrayal and damage,” he said.
Earlier today, Abdul Hadi claimed the uncertainty within Umno that stemmed from corruption charges within the party was why PAS opted not to pursue cooperation for GE15.
While he did not specify, Ahmad Zahid was among Umno leaders with ongoing corruption trials.
PAS is a component of the PN coalition led by Bersatu, another Umno splinter.
PAS reaffirmed its commitment to PN yesterday despite repeated overtures to team up with Umno for the general election, which the Islamist party asserted to be for the sake of the Malay Muslims in the country.
However, Umno has repeatedly said that it will not work with PAS as long as the latter is allied with Bersatu.
