AMANAH enlisting Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to lead the charge against the PAS-led Kelantan government in the general election shows the party has no worthy leader of stature among its ranks, said an Umno leader.

Kuala Krai Umno division deputy chief Zaki Muhammad told The Malaysian Insight that the Pakatan Harapan members’ cooperation with the Gua Musang MP would not bear fruit as Umno members were averse to DAP, a key member of the opposition coalition.

However, he said Umno does not have a problem working with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) led by Amanah in the interest of the state.

Zaki said it is hard for the Malay party to accept the cooperation even though Tengku Razaleigh had agreed to it.

Zaki said it is against Umno’s principles to work with PH.

“Amanah has been asking for a meeting with Kelantan Umno for a long time but we understand that the top leadership sees no need to cooperate with the party,” he said.

The Pakatan Harapan (PH) leadership, meanwhile, said Tengku Razaleigh has agreed to work with the pact in his personal capacity.

However, Umno still regards Amanah as DAP’s closest ally, said Zaki.

“We do not want to be seen linked with them because it contradicts Umno’s rejection of DAP, which is part of PH.

“Umno considers Amanah to be a clone of DAP, so I don’t think this movement is going anywhere,” he said.

He assumed there was a crisis in Amanah if the party was desperate to work with Kelantan prince Tengku Razaleigh.

Zaki said there appears to be conflict between Kelantan Amanah chairman Muhammad Hussin and the party’s former vice –president Husam Musa over the role of Save Kelantan.

Husam launched Save Kelantan with like-minded politicians in April.

The movement has no connection with Angkatan Amanah Merdeka Rakyat Kelantan, which is an initiative between Kelantan Amanah leaders and Tengku Razaleigh. DAP, Pejuang and Putra are also involved in the venture.

Zaki said he shared a platform with Husam through Save Kelantan.

“Umno is open to participation because it is apolitical,” he said.

Zaki said Tengku Razaleigh was chosen to lead the movement because the leader still had influence in Kelantan.

Zaki said the issue of Kelantan Umno rejecting the movement did not arise because Ku Li was acting in his personal capacity.

“Currently, he is still in the early stages (of cooperation) but he is very positive about the movement.

Zaki rebutted claims that Amanah is now divided into two camps in Kelantan but admitted that Husam’s Save Kelantan NGO had riled up some people with its criticism of the PAS splinter.

“Husam’s position that he will oppose his own party candidates if Amanah does not accept the Save Kelantan charter – we consider that to be in conflict with the party’s policy.

“But we don’t have a problem with his Save Kelantan movement, just don’t cause trouble for our party.”

Amanah veterans hope to join forces with Ku Li and Husam to oust PAS in Kelantan.

Former Kelantan Amanah chairman Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Abdullah hopes to repeat the events of 1978, when PAS collapsed after 18 years in power.

In 1990, Tengku Razaleigh left Umno to form Parti Melayu Semangat 46.

The party joined the Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU) coalition with PAS and Berjasa, which subsequently defeated Umno in Kelantan.

“So the political wave that happened in 1990 and 1978 was able to persuade the people of Kelantan to reject the government.”

Tengku Razaleigh rejoined Umno in 1996 after Semangat 46 was dissolved.

Kelantan has since been governed by PAS. – May 23, 2022.