UMNO has broken the Muafakat Nasional (MN) charter and this is why PAS has turned its back on the Malay nationalist party, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said.

According to the PAS president, the charter his party had inked with Umno when MN was created was to accept other parties, including Bersatu, and civil society groups that wanted to work for the Muslim and Malay community.

However, the agreement was broken when Umno only wanted MN to be a working arrangement with PAS and no one else, he said.

“Umno cannot order PAS because it is an independent political party. Saying only PAS and Umno are to be in MN is not acceptable (to us) as PAS agreed to include others in the charter.

“We had also set a date for Bersatu and other parties to meet and even accept Bersatu in MN.

“PAS is open to the idea but unfortunately (Umno leaders) wanted PAS to be with Umno only. PAS cannot be ordered about, as it is a party by itself. PAS is not in Barisan Nasional (BN),” he was quoted as saying by Utusan Malaysia when he was in Larut today.

Hadi had attended an event for the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday at Selama town hall, which was also attend by Larut MP Hamzah Zainudin, who is also PN and Bersatu secretary-general.

Last week, Hadi had said the party did not want to be tied down by Umno in MN and wanted to move with PN.

“PAS upholds the concept of unity in accordance with the Islamic perspective, which is the unity of Muslims, and also the unity among diverse people, including non-Muslims.

“Therefore, PAS rejects MN, which only involves Umno and PAS. We also reject the ideology that denies the existence of diverse communities that need to be addressed through a wider coalition, which is PN,” he said in a statement on Facebook. – December 4, 2021.