FORMER political foes Umno and PAS are seeing good results from their joint ceramah, which are improving ties and mutual understanding at the grassroots level, said leaders from both parties.

The ceramah series called “Penyatuan Ummah” (uniting the Muslim community) feature personalities who have put aside their past rivalry and are working together for the common political future.

The next ceramah in Pendang, Kedah, tomorrow features Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin, who had previously criticised the political cooperation between the two parties who were rivals until the 14th general election last year, when Barisan Nasional fell from power.

Umno information chief Shamsul Anuar Nasarah told The Malaysian Insight that the ceramah have been a success, drawing good response from Umno members who previously shunned such events.

In the past, when BN was in power, component parties rarely held ceramah let alone go on a nationwide tour to explain party policies, strategies and current issues.  

Instead, this was the practice of opposition parties like PAS and those in the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

The PAS-Umno ceramah are drawing not only party members but also the public, who are not members of political parties, said Shamsul.

“We did not tell or make arrangements for them to come. We did not provide buses. But the people still came on their own accord and expense.

“This shows that the people have realised and understood the need for both PAS and Umno to work together,” Shamsul said.

The party grassroots are also taking the PAS-Umno cooperation very well, even though the leadership of both parties have yet to officially draw up the political collaboration, he added.

Umno vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin and his PAS counterpart Idris Ahmad are tasked with preparing a report on how both parties would move and work together, which will be used as the reference by both sides.

Both parties have a joint technical committee, which was set up last month, finalising the report on the matter. The committee is to wrap up the report this week for the leadership of both parties to study and decide how they will operate together.

Meanwhile, PAS information chief Nasrudin Hassan said the joint programme was initiated by party grassroots, not on the orders of leaders.

“There was no directive from the central leadership for PAS and Umno divisions to organise programmes together. This idea came from the grassroots leadership.

“Our parties have just started to work together. We need to get to know each other better and coordinate the work.

“It is not that leaders and members at the grassroots are not confident of the political cooperation but we do need to build the momentum to get things going,” Nasrudin told The Malaysian Insight.

Selangor Umno information chief Megat Zulkarnain Omardin also said the parties needed to conduct joint programmes at the grassroots level so that members could feel the “unity” of the Muslim community.

The programmes are not just about finding out what they have in common but also to allow them to identify possible weaknesses and problems, Megat said.

“Through these programmes, we can overcome attempts to disrupt our cooperation and identify potential problems that may crop up.”

Megat said among the potential problems included seat distribution between the two parties, as both would target Malay and Muslim-majority seats in the 15th general election.

“We have not come to that stage but we will have to discuss the matter when the time comes. It is up to the leaders to decide, but the grassroots may have to be involved in the discussions, too, if necessary.

“The main focus is the unity of the community. We should not disregard religion and race just over certain issues,” he added.

In recent by-elections involving Malay-majority seats, PAS sat out of the contests, giving its support to BN candidates fielded by Umno.

Through Umno, BN recently defended the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat and the Rantau state seat and wrested back the Semenyih state seat from PH. – April 25, 2019.