Mahathir: Umno-PAS charter not healthy for Malaysia

The Umno-PAS charter will not be healthy to Malaysia, a country with a multiracial background, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today.

"They want only to play up racial and religious issues. This is not healthy for the country with a multiracial background.

"If (we) play up such issues, (we) will create antagonism (within us)," he told a press conference after chairing Pakatan Harapan presidential council meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

The opposition parties should focus on policy-based issues instead of instigating the racial and religious sentiments, he said.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and his PAS counterpart Abdul Hadi Awang will ink a cooperation charter between the two parties on Sept 14.

The two biggest Malay parties formed an alliance following the last general election which saw Pakatan Harapan defeating BN which governed the nation for the last six decades.

At present, Umno and BN control the states of Pahang and Perlis whereas PAS rules Terengganu and Kelantan.

Umno and BN have 40 MPs collectively including Cameron Highlands' Ramli Mohd Nor who contested the seat as a BN direct candidate. PAS has 18 MPs.

Prior to the election, BN had 13 component parties but this has since been reduced to three – Umno, MCA and MIC.

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