[UPDATED] Umno listens, but Supreme Council decides: Ismail Sabri on cooperation with PAS

KUALA LUMPUR – The fate of the Umno-PAS political cooperation lies in the hands of the Umno Supreme Council, not individual party leaders’ opinions, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said while Umno members and leaders are welcome to express their opinions, the Supreme Council has the final authority on party matters.

The Umno vice-president said this when asked to comment on several Umno division leaders demanding a permanent end to negotiations with PAS.

“It is up to the (Umno) Supreme Council. We will listen to the views of all members and leaders, that is just how Umno is.

“The Supreme Council will then determine a decision for the party,” he told reporters after officiating the Semarak Patriotik IPT 2022 event at the National Defence University Malaysia (UPNM) here today.

Yesterday, Ismail Sabri announced the postponement of the much-anticipated meeting between the prime minister and Umno’s top five leaders, which was initially scheduled to take place this Saturday. 

The meeting, which was meant to facilitate discussions on the coming 15th general election (GE15), will now be carried out on a new date set to be revealed by party secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan. 

“Maybe it (the topic of cooperation between Umno and PAS) can be brought up during the meeting,” Ismail Sabri said today. 

Ties between Umno and PAS have been frayed for a while now, with Umno’s top guns, president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and his deputy Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, lambasting the Islamist party for allegedly going behind their backs to work with Perikatan Nasional (PN). 

PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan has since said the party will continue to consider Umno as its “partner” under the concept of ummah unity.

PN chairman and former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had also confirmed last week that “discussions” between Umno and PAS on GE15 were merely “informal talks” with no party leaders present from either side.

The political cooperation between the two parties was formalised when both signed the Muafakat Nasional charter on September 14, 2019. – The Vibes, September 15, 2022