Ge15 Pas Ditched Malay Unity For 47 Seats From Bersatu Claims Asyraf

---

 
PETALING JAYA: PAS is sticking with Bersatu in Perikatan Nasional because it was promised 47 winnable seats in the 15th General Election, claims Umno Youth chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.
In a Facebook post on Friday (Oct 14), Asyraf said this was confirmed by PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang in a meeting on Wednesday (Oct 12) between the Umno and PAS presidents and their deputies.
According to Asyraf, the meeting took place one day before Abdul Hadi announced that the Islamist party was sticking with Bersatu and Perikatan for the polls.
He said it was a final attempt by Umno to save Muafakat Nasional which the two parties set up after the last general election to end the enmity between "brothers".
His post was accompanied by a photograph showing Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and his deputy Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan having a meal together with Abdul Hadi and his deputy Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.
There were another two others at the table, but they were not fully visible in the image.
"This was an 'eight-eyed meeting' of the presidents and deputy presidents of Umno and PAS on Wednesday Oct 12, a day before PAS finally made the decision to stay on with Bersatu in Perikatan.
"Umno was big-hearted enough to take PAS back again, even though (we) had been betrayed when PAS agreed to register Perikatan with Bersatu despite denying this a few times in the Muafakat Nasional main committee meetings.
"In the Melaka elections, Umno offered five winnable state seats for PAS to contest even though Bersatu promised it 11 seats.
"At this meeting too, PAS stated that if it stayed with Perikatan, Bersatu had promised it 47 winnable seats.
"For Umno however, the discussion to revive Muafakat Nasional was bigger than mere calculation of seats.
"As a party with a cause (and) struggle, Umno has never lost its spirit even though honey was reciprocated with poison... God is witness to the efforts maximised to unite the ummah especially between Umno and PAS, to ensure the millions of both parties' members could be united again. Perhaps there is wisdom God is hiding from us in this episode," said Asyraf in the post.
On Oct 13, Abdul Hadi announced that PAS had decided to strengthen its cooperation in Perikatan to face GE15, on the principle of uniting the ummah.
On Friday, during a lecture before Friday prayers, Abdul Hadi further explained that the reason they decided not to work with Umno was because there were corrupt leaders in the party.
He had stated that PAS did not want to work with Umno as the latter was "in murky waters due to bribery" and "greedy to gain power to rule". - Star

---