AHMAD Zahid Hamidi said today it was time for Umno to move forward without PAS, seemingly shutting its door to any future collaboration with the Islamist party. 

The Umno president said the decision to go solo in the next general election was due to PAS’ antics.

“There is nothing (for Umno) to sob about when PAS always played it safe but at the same time, they can be with others,” Zahid said in a Facebook post today. 

The Bagan Datuk MP was responding to PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, who at the party’s annual congress said the Islamist party has never declared that its partnership with Umno under Muafakat Nasional (MN) was over. 

Zahid said that Umno’s cooperation with PAS under MN should have been the best entity to lead the country forward. 

He said MN was born out of the two largest parties in the country, as a result of people’s waning confidence in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government at that time.

“It for this reason that MN was offered to Malaysians, as a form of bold and decisive solution to all people regardless of background or social class, so that Malaysia can be led again in a more directed and responsible manner.

“MN needed political stability and strength, and this was realised in a series of by-election victories after the 2018 general election, which showed a clear synergy between the two parties and sent a clear message to the government at the time. 

“This was the basic pledge with the signing of the MN Charter,” he said. 

However, he said PAS broke that trust when they decided to partner with Bersatu under Perikatan Nasional (PN). 

“The key to MN’s success and political stability is trust, and this trust was torn apart by PAS when it chose to join PN under Bersatu and bury the momentum of cooperation built with Umno through MN,” Zahid said. 

Yesterday, Tuan Ibrahim said that PAS will not abandon its ally Bersatu or forget the sacrifices it made to help form the present government. 

He said Umno should be grateful to Bersatu and its sacrifices as they are now also part of the federal government, adding that Umno would not have had a chance to be in power otherwise. – September 2, 2022.