No political discussions between PAS and Madani coalition - Samsuri

PAS vice-president Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar has denied that the party has ever held political discussions with anyone from the Madani coalition.

He said any talks between the two were official business only.

“Meetings in Parliament or during any other meetings are based on their capacity as the members of Parliament or assemblypersons.

“It should not be classified as political discussions. Instead, if such a meeting were to occur with Umno leaders, it would fall within the context of governance administration and the roles of MPs and assemblypersons in their respective states,” he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times yesterday.

On Sunday, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi claimed that opposition parties had requested to meet with him and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to negotiate cooperation in the next general election.

However, Zahid said he was not open to such talks just yet.

Talks to ‘unify Malay votes’

This comes after PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari claimed there were ongoing talks with Umno leaders in the name of “unifying Malay votes”.

However, Zahid has said that he would not align Umno with PAS again as long as Abdul Hadi Awang is the Islamist party’s president.

Samsuri, meanwhile, said that PAS remained steadfast with Perikatan Nasional.

“We believe that the future of a better country, a ‘new Malaysia’, should be built upon the existing political cooperation.

“PAS, together with its partners in PN needs to be developed over time. InsyaAllah, this will be the best offer for the new Malaysia,” he said.

PAS and Umno previously worked together under the Muafakat Nasional banner.

However, the pact fell apart after PAS aligned with Bersatu and joined PN.

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