By Linda Khoo Hui Li
BANGKOK — Prime Minister cum Pakatan Harapan chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said PAS must declare UMNO as an Islamic party before forging a political cooperation with the opposition party.
In a cynical tone, Dr Mahathir said this was because PAS had previously declared UMNO members as infidels, thus now, the party should declare Umno ‘Islamic’.
“PAS once claimed that UMNO is infidel for cooperating with the non-believers. If PAS forges cooperation with UMNO, it will also be infidel,” he told reporters after concluding his four-day working visit to Bangkok in conjunction with the 34th ASEAN Summit.
Yesterday, the 65th PAS Muktamar passed a motion for the party to seal a political agreement with UMNO.
The motion was tabled by PAS Dewan Ulama Information chief Mohd Asri Mat Daud and received unanimous support from the delegates.
Mohd Asri, when tabling the motion, said PAS could not forge cooperation with Umno merely on the basis of “taawun” (cooperation for the benefit of Islam), but should take a step further through “tahaluf siyasi” (political cooperation).
The last time PAS forged political cooperation was with DAP in 2008, but it was severed in July 2015 due to an alleged breach of condition.
— BERNAMA
