Umno the best among three Malay-centric parties: Khalid

Amanah communications director Khalid Samad, who had been openly critical about Umno in the past, appears to be singing a different tune now.

During a Pakatan Harapan ceramah in Shah Alam last night, Khalid was reported by FMT as labelling Umno as the “best” among three Malay-based parties in Malaysia.

Amanah - unlike Bersatu, PAS and Umno – does not impose any membership restrictions based on race or religion.

The English news portal reported Khalid (above) as saying that Umno and Harapan held similar political ideals, which is their focus in solving the people’s woes.

“There are three political parties that truly represent the interest of the Malays. Of the three, we can see that Umno is the best. Because they understand politics,” he was quoted as saying.

In April, Khalid had raised the ire of several Umno leaders after he called for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to reject the application to pardon former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Following Khalid’s statement, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi urged all quarters to stop making “inappropriate” comments on the party’s bid to seek a pardon for Najib.

Kelantan Umno also said it will consider severing ties with its Amanah counterpart if Khalid does not withdraw his statement and apologise.

Khalid had since apologised for upsetting Umno over his statement, saying it was merely a difference of opinion on the issue.

In his speech last night, Khalid, who is also former federal territories minister, took a jibe at PAS and Bersatu.

Citing the emergency declaration and suspension of Parliament during the Covid-19 pandemic when Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin was prime minister, Khalid accused the party of treachery.

“What good came out of it? We could not conduct check and balance (on the government); we could not determine if what (the government) was doing was good for us.

“(We) were not allowed to debate, (we) were told to stay at home because of the movement control order,” he was reported as saying.

He also did not mince his words when he claimed that PAS has deviated from its course now that the Islamist party’s icon is caretaker Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor.

“Their icon used to be (the last PAS spiritual leader) Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, now it’s Sanusi.

“Just by comparing the two, we can see how far they have strayed.”

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