GE15: Terengganu Umno wants to contest all seats in the state, PAS' seats too
All is not well between Umno and PAS, at least in Terengganu.
The state Umno chapter wants to contest all Parliament and state seats in Terengganu, putting it on a collision course with the Islamist party.
"Umno will also seize back the Hulu Terengganu seat from Bersatu in GE15," Terengganu Umno chief Ahmad Said was quoted as saying by Sinar Harian yesterday...
All is not well between Umno and PAS, at least in Terengganu.
The state Umno chapter wants to contest all Parliament and state seats in Terengganu, putting it on a collision course with the Islamist party.
"Umno will also seize back the Hulu Terengganu seat from Bersatu in GE15," Terengganu Umno chief Ahmad Said was quoted as saying by Sinar Harian yesterday.
Hulu Terengganu MP Rosol Wahid had won the seat on an Umno-BN ticket in 2018, but he later defected to Bersatu.
This is not the first time Ahmad and the state Umno have expressed plans to contest for Umno all seats in Terengganu, nor is it the first time he has expressed displeasure with PAS.
In his speech to Kemaman Umno members yesterday, Ahmad was cited as saying that the Muafakat Nasional alliance with PAS does not exist in the state.
He also criticised the PAS state government for unfair treatment towards Umno.
"I want to compare how (allocations) are distributed by the BN Pahang and Perlis governments. They allocate equally to all elected representatives from Umno, PAS, PKR and such because it involves the people.
"But here (in Terengganu), Umno only gets RM45,000 compared to PAS representatives who get RM350,000 and RM305,000 to the state seat coordinator's offices which are run by PAS," he claimed.
Neither Pahang nor Perlis gives equal allocations to the opposition.
However, equal allocations are given to all state assemblypersons in Johor and Perak, both of which are headed by Umno.
Ahmad is not the only Umno leader who is cross with PAS.
On Saturday, Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman chided PAS for joining the Bersatu-led Perikatan Nasional without Umno's approval.
The snipes come as tensions between Umno and Bersatu rise to near boiling point - with the former mulling severing ties with the latter.
PAS is officially remaining neutral for now. However, the Islamist party has been leaning more towards Bersatu, instead of Umno, following the change in the federal government last March.
Last month, the PAS central leadership initially refused to side with Umno to form a new Perak state government after the latter ousted Bersatu deputy president Ahmad Faizal Azumu as menteri besar.
The situation was only resolved after Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi apologised to Bersatu and PAS over the incident.
Tensions with PAS are likely to escalate if Umno decides on Wednesday to back a motion not to cooperate with Bersatu in the next general election.
The motion has received the support of 143 out of 191 Umno divisions.
