PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang wants no part in the planned anti-Najib rally on March 27, which is expected to bring together the opposition and Umno dissenters against scandal-plagued Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Abdul Hadi said while he was against Umno as a party, he wanted to be on good terms with the people in Umno.

“I am anti-Umno... but not (anti-) Umno people. We (PAS) want to be good with Umno people even though Umno as a party has made many mistakes.

“I don’t want to be involved in the (anti-Najib) rally,” he was quoted as saying by Sinar Harian .

Abdul Hadi was asked by the Malay-language daily to respond to the planned anti-Najib rally at a function in his constituency of Marang last night.

The closed-door rally was first proposed by former Umno minister Zaid Ibrahim, who extended an invitation to all forces opposed to Najib in both the ruling coalition and the opposition.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has already pledged to attend the meeting if he is invited, and so has Gabungan Ketua Cawangan Malaysia (GKCM) comprising rebel grassroots Umno leaders.

The opposition was initially reluctant as it was worried that the Umno rebels only wanted to remove Najib but was uninterested in reforms.

However, suspended Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin’s statement yesterday, in which he said the removal of Najib alone was not enough and institutional reforms were required, has received positive reaction from the opposition.

Meanwhile, PAS’ splinter party Amanah said it was supportive of joining forces with all quarters to put a stop to the leadership crisis.

“I support Mahathir’s urging for everyone to set aside their party and group interest to focus on putting an end to Najib’s leadership crisis,” said Amanah vice-president Mujahid Yusof Rawa in a statement.

“I also urge Muhyiddin and a number of other Umno leaders to have the courage to take up Mahathir and Pakatan Harapan’s urgings to push for immediate change to save Malaysia,” he added.