KLANG: While it appears that both Umno and PAS are heading for an annulment of their “union” at the federal level, both parties are trying to remain partners in Selangor.
Selangor PAS secretary Roslan Shahir says that Umno and PAS have to be together in union in order to wrest the state from Pakatan Harapan in the next general election.
“PAS is stronger in Selangor compared to states like Malacca and Johor as our grassroots base here is solid,’’ said Roslan.
He added that even though PAS only won one state assembly seat in the last general election, its combined votes from all 56 state constituencies were at least 30% of the total number of votes.
“It is not like that in Malacca where 10 of our candidates lost their deposits and in Johor, even our state commissioner and his deputy lost their deposits as well,’’ said Roslan.
Given this, added Roslan, negotiations were ongoing between Selangor Umno chief Tan Sri Noh Omar and state PAS commissioner Datuk Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi about working together during the polls.
“We are discussing having one-to-one fights with Pakatan for the state seats and are awaiting the blessings of both our parties’ the top leaders,’’ said Roslan.
He said Selangor Umno was aware of PAS’ huge vote bank at the state’s grassroots level.
Meanwhile, Selangor Umno secretary Datuk Kamaruzzaman Johari concurred that discussions were currently underway in regards to the Umno-PAS collaboration in the state.
However, he reiterated that whatever decision is made will be by the party’s top echelon leadership.
“In Selangor, we (Umno and PAS) have been having joint programmes and events regularly.
“But we have to adhere to the decision from the top and cannot make our own decision at the state level,’’ said Kamaruzzaman.
When asked if both parties will concede not to overlap during the general election and opt for straight fights with their Pakatan opponents, Kamaruzzamman said: “That is another issue. We will handle it when we come to it.”