PUTRAJAYA: It is up to PAS to decide the direction it wants to take with regard to its political cooperation with Muafakat Nasional and Perikatan Nasional, says Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
The Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president said his party would not stop any other party under Perikatan to hold such talks.
“As long as it is done for the unity of the ummah,” the Perikatan chairman told a press conference here after chairing the National Recovery Council meeting yesterday.
Muhyiddin was asked to comment on a statement by PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar that his party would forge ahead with its cooperation with Umno through Muafakat Nasional.
Perikatan Nasional, a political coalition which includes parties under Muafakat Nasional, was set up in late February 2020 following the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan administration. Perikatan – comprising Bersatu, PAS, Gerakan, Sabah STAR and SAPP – is in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s Umno-led Federal Government.
Umno and PAS are cooperating through Muafakat Nasional.
Muhyiddin said Bersatu and Perikatan would not stop PAS from forging alliances with other parties for the sake of Malay-Muslim unity.
He added PAS leaders had reassured him that they were with Bersatu in Perikatan.
This assurance, he said, was given to him by PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang and its secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan during a recent Hari Raya Aidifitri gathering where the leaders met and talked.
“We are on the outside and do not know what is their real strategy, whether they plan to continue with Muafakat Nasional or otherwise. At the end of the day, we will sit together to discuss what is best for Perikatan and for the nation,” said Muhyiddin.
