MUAFAKAT Nasional saved the country from the brink of collapse, said Umno Youth leader Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.

He said the nation was in a state of uncertainty until Umno and PAS stepped in.

“We played the role of saving the country amid an ongoing political crisis. There was no government at all for a week at that point,” he said in a forum on Umno Online on Facebook.

The former senator said the country suffered losses of more than RM3 billion during the one week of uncertainty.

“Even the PM appointed by the Agong at the time was to serve only as the interim leader.

“We lost RM3 billion during the one week of crisis. This was an indication to us that we should save the country,” Asyraf said.

Instead of pressing for fresh polls, he said Umno and PAS “magnanimously” agreed to form Perikatan Nasional with Muhyiddin Yassin and accept him as the prime minister

“We would be more than happy to let the people decide… but Umno and PAS decided to save the country and accept Muhyiddin as PM,” he added.

He said the 2018 electoral defeat was a sobering experience for both Umno and PAS, leading them to work together for their mutual benefit.

The 2018 general election was a “wake-up call” that led the two defeated parties to consider working together for their mutual benefit, he said.

“If we were to combine two of the biggest Malay parties, what will be the outcome?”

PAS youth chief Khairil Nizam Khairuddin said collaboration between the two parties was not a problem as they both shared a common basis of Islam.

“We are built on the same principles but perhaps our method of approach is different. Umno takes a more Malay approach, but we can work together,” he said. – July 13, 2020.