KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 11): With more than 3,000 red-clad Umno delegates packing Dewan Merdeka at the World Trade Centre, the party leaders made a renewed call for Malay-Muslim unity.
Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi urged former allies to put past differences behind them with his own assessment showing that "Malays were uneasy" over continued political infighting and wanted reconciliation in his presidential address on Friday.
“On this stage, we pledged our loyalty. Outside, this brotherhood was greeted with joy,” he said. “But the presence of a third party fractured the relationship we had built. Enough is enough. Let us put the past behind us.”
He did not say who the “third party” was.
Among the PAS leaders present were secretary general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, vice-president Datuk Idris Ahmad, information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari and Bachok Member of Parliament Mohd Syahir Che Sulaiman.
Zahid outlined three principles for such a political understanding which are prioritising common ground for the public good; respecting differences in ideology, identity and each party’s boundaries; and exercising tolerance and flexibility in decision-making.
“In finding common ground, we do not force any party to dilute its identity. In other words, whoever we cooperate with, Umno remains Umno. Barisan Nasional remains Barisan Nasional,” he said.
Umno secretary general Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki also welcomed PAS as the return of “old partners in consensus”.
The successes in Johor and Negeri Sembilan “did not come rolling in for free”, he said. “The unity of the ummah with our old friends PAS is increasingly being envied by our opponents.”
In a prayer ahead of the presidential address, Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom also invoked the Islamic historical relationship between the Muhajirin and Ansar to frame its outreach to PAS.
The Muhajirin were Muslims who migrated from Mecca to Medina with Prophet Muhammad, while the Ansar were the people of Medina who welcomed and supported them.
By likening PAS to the Muhajirin and itself to the Ansar, Jamil Khir portrayed Umno’s outreach as opening its political “house” to an old partner seeking to rebuild ties.