The Umno supreme council said today it could not agree to the pre-conditions set by PAS for the unity talks between the two parties, but insists that they proceed with the meeting.

"All the pre-conditions asked by PAS is not within the power of Umno but that of the government," said Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad, after a three-hour party meeting.

However, he did not say whether the party would bring the issue to the Umno-led Barisan Nasional government.

Stating his disappointment with the postponement of the talks that was to have been held Feb 19, Mahathir said Umno had tried to accommodate PAS' proviso that national unity be included in the talks but lamented that PAS has now demanded additional terms.

PAS put off the talks last Sunday, stating that the environment was not conducive for the talks to take place.

It cited the police crackdown of a number of opposition ceramah and demonstrations in recent weeks.

It also proposed three main pre-conditions - the return of the oil royalty payments to PAS-ruled Terengganu; that party organ Harakah be allowed to be published eight times a month as before as opposed to twice now; and the retraction of the proposal by Umno to drop the word 'Islam' from the names of political parties.

"We did not reject (the proposal) to discuss national unity because we believed Malay unity is part of national unity. If there is no Malay unity, then there will only be national unity without Malay unity," said Mahathir.

Mahathir added that discussing Malay unity is not being done with the intention to oppose the non-Malays.

"The unity in Barisan Nasional will not be put behind and we will still cooperate with the Chinese and the Indians. Malay unity will not damage Barisan Nasional and national unity."

Opposition has its role

Mahathir also said that Umno regards the Opposition as fulfilling the requirements for democracy as it keeps the government in check by criticising it.

"When we first agreed to hold unity talks, we were prepared to meet PAS on other issues such as the Anwar Ibrahim issue and the abuse in government administration. However, after we had agreed to their terms to talk on these issues, they come back to us with demands to return their wang ehsan (goodwill payment) and allow Harakah to be published eight times a month.

"If one party has already gotten all that it wants, then why should the talks be held at all?

"Umno is still prepared to meet PAS and set aside all terms. We are willing to hold the talks even though there is no theme," said Mahathir.

On the fact that PAS president Fadzil Noor had likened the whole situation of going to the talks as asking for a hand in marriage and thus accounting for the pre-conditions, Mahathir said, "We do not want to marry anybody. We just want to meet."

Mahathir said that the idea for the talks came from a university lecturer who asked him why the opposing political parties could not sit down and talk.

"Keadilan is not a Malay party. However, PAS said it agreed to hold the talks. We can only pray that PAS' heart will soften," said Mahathir, who declined to comment on the fact that Umno is being seen as desperate to talk with PAS.

'They can call me anything'

On the statement reportedly said by Fadzil at a ceramah yesterday that likens Umno to a patient going to see the Tok Bomoh (shaman), Mahathir retorted that he always believes in going to doctors and not shamans.

Mahathir was also asked to comment on the various names PAS Youth chief Mahfuz Omar had called him (Mahathir). "They can call me anything they want - mahafiraun (The Great Pharoah) or perompak (robber). I leave it to God," he said.

He also said that the ' takfir ' issue - where a Muslim accuses another of being a disbeliever - has originated from one side. "We (Umno) have never takfir others (accused others of being disbelievers). It came from outside (the party)," said Mahathir.

He said that the Umno technical committee for the talks headed by the party's secretary-general Khalil Yaakob will continue to meet with its PAS counterpart. Khalil said that there has been no proposed date for the next meeting of the technical committees as it is normally done by word of mouth.

As Fadzil will be going for his Haj on Sunday, the talks, if they were to proceed, can only be held after his return in mid-March.

June general assembly

At the same meeting, Umno vice-president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that the Umno general assembly will be held from June 21 to 23. The Umno Youth and women's wing will hold their general assembly on June 20.

Abdullah also said that the existing code of ethics will be maintained for the coming assembly and any amendments will be "in line with the constitution".

However, he refused to elaborate further on what the amendments are.

Abdullah also said that the 20 members will be chosen to sit on the sponsor committee of the newly formed Puteri Umno (Young Women's wing).

"Seven of them will be chosen by the supreme council and the remainder will be chosen from the state Umno liaison bodies," he said, adding that these members must be aged 35 and below.