PAS "Woos" Umno On Valentine’s Day! But Here's The Real Story...
19 Feb 2024
JK Joseph
Repentant ex-banker who believes in truth, compassion and some humour
Is PAS trying to woo Umno to its side in order to fulfill its own agenda? Credit Image: The Star
It may be understandable, if Valentine’s Day evokes sweet memories for some folks with regard to their past romantic involvements, rekindling happy moments they had spent together with their now estranged partners; perhaps, even “relighting” the passion to get back into each other's arms again?
Well, no one can be sure if that was the case with the long-running PAS-Umno “love-hate” drama, but ironically, according to a news report last Wednesday (Feb 14), almost out of the blue, the Islamist party’s spiritual adviser Hashim Jasin had expressed a strong desire that his party and and its former mate Umno should come back together again to rekindle their past relationship under the now dormant Malay-Muslim coalition Muafakat Nasional (MN).
For the record, MN was formed in September 2019 when both parties were in the opposition bloc following their defeat and Pakatan Harapan’s victory in the 14th general elections in 2018.
Anyway, according to the same report, Hashim had highlighted that several disturbing issues touching on the sensitivities of Malay-Muslims had flared up recently; this included the annulment of the 16 provisions of the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019 by the Federal Court, as well as DAP leader Nga Kor Ming’s controversial proposal for attaining Unesco recognition for Chinese new villages; as such, he believed that many in Umno will also be aware of all these happenings and the need to reunite.
Nevertheless, the former Sanglang assemblyman from PAS appeared to concede that, as yet, there hasn’t been any official meetings to reconcile the two Malay parties, although he did express confidence that many people still believed MN is not dead and that it can still blossom and be fruitful like it used to.
Incidentally, relations between the two Malay parties has been tense since PAS formed a concurrent pact called Perikatan Nasional (PN) with Bersatu in 2020 after the infamous Sheraton Move, with the Islamist party wanting the latter to be part of MN too! However, Umno had strongly objected to the inclusion of Bersatu which is essentially its splinter party set up by Dr Mahathir prior to the landmark general elections in 2018.
Meanwhile, commenting on Hashim’s statement, Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi appears to have snubbed the PAS leader's “advances” by saying that for Umno it was a case of “once bitten twice shy”, alleging that any talk of reviving Muafakat Nasional may have a hidden agenda of undermining the unity government; in fact, he went on to assert that Umno has effectively “closed the book” on MN with PAS.
Puad, who is also the Johor state assembly speaker, added that he was strongly opposed to any talk of Umno working together with PAS again, further claiming that knowing the Islamist party well, it was only trying to divide the parties in the unity government; he added that, in any case, Umno was now more comfortable being part of the current Madani government under PM Anwar.
In fact, this was not the first time Umno had rejected the advances from PAS; as recently as last December, Puad had poured cold water on a possibility of his party rekindling its political cooperation with PAS saying that any suggestion for Umno to work together with it again was not necessary.
Besides, many Umno members may feel that Puad could be right after all, as based on past experience, PAS does seem to have a tendency for “changing partners” according to the occasion; no doubt, many will still remember that at one time it was also “holding hands” with DAP?
Meanwhile, the Islamist party's latest attempt to ask for Umno’s “hand” has certainly sparked an interesting debate in the country with some speculating that it was now busy finding new “partners” to boost its numbers in terms of support following the disappointment of the recent Federal Court verdict that invalidated 16 provisions in Kelantan’s syariah enactment.
However, for Umno, any potential reunion with PAS may be untenable as the latter still enjoys an ongoing relationship with Bersatu, who still remain Umno’s bitter rivals; therefore, as some may ask, “why would they want to get entangled again in a ‘love triangle’ where the ultimate beneficiary may only be one - PAS!”
Moreover, with another of their bitter enemies, Dr Mahathir, also now in the mix by virtue of his position as the special economic advisor for the four PAS-ruled states - what possible benefits could Umno gain by “kissing and making up” with their former foes?
In fact, some may even claim that PAS may be discreetly trying to capitalize on the current verbal spat between Umno Youth and DAP - which has been threatening to blow up - over the proposed Unesco recognition for Chinese new villages; could it be using this as a “bait” to persuade Umno back into its fold so that it can fulfill its key agenda?
Hence, if it's really planning to circumvent the Federal Court’s verdict on the Kelantan syariah enactment and get it “reinstated” by pushing for amendments to the country’s Constitution, then surely it will need the full backing of the majority of Malays in the country, particularly Umno - which is now part of the current government!
It may be understandable, if Valentine’s Day evokes sweet memories for some folks with regard to their past romantic involvements, rekindling happy moments they had spent together with their now estranged partners; perhaps, even “relighting” the passion to get back into each other's arms again?
Well, no one can be sure if that was the case with the long-running PAS-Umno “love-hate” drama, but ironically, according to a news report last Wednesday (Feb 14), almost out of the blue, the Islamist party’s spiritual adviser Hashim Jasin had expressed a strong desire that his party and and its former mate Umno should come back together again to rekindle their past relationship under the now dormant Malay-Muslim coalition Muafakat Nasional (MN).
For the record, MN was formed in September 2019 when both parties were in the opposition bloc following their defeat and Pakatan Harapan’s victory in the 14th general elections in 2018.
Anyway, according to the same report, Hashim had highlighted that several disturbing issues touching on the sensitivities of Malay-Muslims had flared up recently; this included the annulment of the 16 provisions of the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019 by the Federal Court, as well as DAP leader Nga Kor Ming’s controversial proposal for attaining Unesco recognition for Chinese new villages; as such, he believed that many in Umno will also be aware of all these happenings and the need to reunite.
Nevertheless, the former Sanglang assemblyman from PAS appeared to concede that, as yet, there hasn’t been any official meetings to reconcile the two Malay parties, although he did express confidence that many people still believed MN is not dead and that it can still blossom and be fruitful like it used to.
Incidentally, relations between the two Malay parties has been tense since PAS formed a concurrent pact called Perikatan Nasional (PN) with Bersatu in 2020 after the infamous Sheraton Move, with the Islamist party wanting the latter to be part of MN too! However, Umno had strongly objected to the inclusion of Bersatu which is essentially its splinter party set up by Dr Mahathir prior to the landmark general elections in 2018.
Meanwhile, commenting on Hashim’s statement, Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi appears to have snubbed the PAS leader's “advances” by saying that for Umno it was a case of “once bitten twice shy”, alleging that any talk of reviving Muafakat Nasional may have a hidden agenda of undermining the unity government; in fact, he went on to assert that Umno has effectively “closed the book” on MN with PAS.
Puad, who is also the Johor state assembly speaker, added that he was strongly opposed to any talk of Umno working together with PAS again, further claiming that knowing the Islamist party well, it was only trying to divide the parties in the unity government; he added that, in any case, Umno was now more comfortable being part of the current Madani government under PM Anwar.
In fact, this was not the first time Umno had rejected the advances from PAS; as recently as last December, Puad had poured cold water on a possibility of his party rekindling its political cooperation with PAS saying that any suggestion for Umno to work together with it again was not necessary.
Besides, many Umno members may feel that Puad could be right after all, as based on past experience, PAS does seem to have a tendency for “changing partners” according to the occasion; no doubt, many will still remember that at one time it was also “holding hands” with DAP?
Meanwhile, the Islamist party's latest attempt to ask for Umno’s “hand” has certainly sparked an interesting debate in the country with some speculating that it was now busy finding new “partners” to boost its numbers in terms of support following the disappointment of the recent Federal Court verdict that invalidated 16 provisions in Kelantan’s syariah enactment.
However, for Umno, any potential reunion with PAS may be untenable as the latter still enjoys an ongoing relationship with Bersatu, who still remain Umno’s bitter rivals; therefore, as some may ask, “why would they want to get entangled again in a ‘love triangle’ where the ultimate beneficiary may only be one - PAS!”
Moreover, with another of their bitter enemies, Dr Mahathir, also now in the mix by virtue of his position as the special economic advisor for the four PAS-ruled states - what possible benefits could Umno gain by “kissing and making up” with their former foes?
In fact, some may even claim that PAS may be discreetly trying to capitalize on the current verbal spat between Umno Youth and DAP - which has been threatening to blow up - over the proposed Unesco recognition for Chinese new villages; could it be using this as a “bait” to persuade Umno back into its fold so that it can fulfill its key agenda?
Hence, if it's really planning to circumvent the Federal Court’s verdict on the Kelantan syariah enactment and get it “reinstated” by pushing for amendments to the country’s Constitution, then surely it will need the full backing of the majority of Malays in the country, particularly Umno - which is now part of the current government!
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