PAS should respect Umno’s decision to chart its own course with Bersatu, Umno vice president Khaled Nordin has said, as the thorny subject of seat negotiations between parties in Perikatan Nasional (PN) continues.

Umno forges political co-operation with parties that give it a strategic advantage for electoral victory and is “not in the mission of giving charity to any party” to do so, he added.

“Umno does not want to be forced to accept anyone to be its political partner.

“Although PAS joined PN, Umno did not stop it because Umno understood and respected PAS’s position.

“Therefore, Umno also hopes for the same kind of respect from PAS over our relationship with Bersatu.

“Umno is confident that PAS will not force Umno to accept Bersatu, let alone give seats to Bersatu arbitrarily,” Khaled said in a statement.

Umno and PAS are partners in the Muafakat Nasional pact, while only PAS has joined the PN coalition.

PAS has urged Umno to make a sacrifice by giving some of its seats to Bersatu for the next general election, a sore point for the latter party, which lost MPs and members to Bersatu after the 2018 general election, despite the two becoming uneasy allies in the PN government.

Khaled said PAS knows that there will definitely be seats for which Umno will clash with Bersatu.

Since Umno is not part of PN, any negotiations with Bersatu are for Umno to do directly with PN through Barisan Nasional, he said.

“Umno’s goal is electoral victory with PAS’s co-operation. As for the rest, let Umno decide its own path.”

Khaled also dismissed a recent statement by Federal Territories Minister and fellow Umno party member Annuar Musa, who said that PAS would never contest the 15th general election alongside Umno, without Bersatu.

“This statement is made by a person who is not even a PAS spokesperson, so it does not represent the stand of PAS. It comes from a person who just wants to save Bersatu and divide Muafakat Nasional.” – November 23, 2020.