PETALING JAYA: PAS is not being friendly with Umno to form a unity government but to air views of common interest, its Youth chief Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Aziz (pic) said.
The party’s friendliness towards Umno should not be misconstrued as paving the way to form a unity government, he said.
“We are not forging ties to form a unity government. True, Umno wants a unity government, but not us,” he said.
He said this when commenting on his recent speech at the 34th Pahang PAS Youth muktamar, where he called on activists and campaigners to understand changes in strategies adopted by PAS and Umno in facing the next general election.
Nik Abduh had said both Umno and PAS had changed strategies in keeping with the changing political landscape.
“In the past, Umno fought us fiercely and we reciprocated. Now that Umno is being kind to us, we can’t hit them hard. Otherwise people will view PAS negatively and we may lose support. We are friendly towards those who are friendly to us.
“Although we will be contesting against Umno in Muslim majority seats in the next general election, we can still be cordial.
“And this is what mature politics is all about,” he said.
Nik Abduh said PAS would even be friendly towards DAP if they wanted to befriend them again.
“Rivalry in politics should not spark hatred.
“We can be rivals in politics. But that does not mean that we should hate each other,” he said.
The PAS muktamar will be held in Kelantan from June 1- 4. PAS wings will be holding their respective muktamar a day earlier.-thestar
