PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has urged Umno to “return to the right path,” accusing the Malaysian party of abandoning its Islamic and Malay-based struggle by working with PKR and DAP.
In his Minda Presiden column, Hadi said Umno’s role in the Pakatan Harapan-led unity government had weakened its commitment to Islamic and Malay policies.
The Marang MP claimed the cooperation had left Umno “diseased and increasingly weak,” saying many within the party had stayed silent on negative practices to protect their government positions.
Hadi said Umno was willing to abandon its foundations by working with PKR, which he described as liberal, and DAP, which he described as extremely secular, in pursuit of political office.
He said PAS and Umno were not far apart in their basic Islamic struggle, though they differed in interpretation and political approach.
Hadi claimed Umno had rejected PAS’s post-15th general election offer to cooperate because it feared PAS would become stronger and “destroy” Umno. He said that the claim was untrue.
PAS and Umno formed Muafakat Nasional in September 2019 to consolidate Malay-Muslim support, but relations deteriorated after PAS worked with Bersatu in Perikatan Nasional following the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government in 2020.
The pact ended in December 2022, after Umno backed PKR president Anwar Ibrahim as Malaysia’s prime minister following the 15th general election.
