UALA LUMPUR, Jan 7— PAS reportedly said today it will adopt a wait-and-see approach following Umno’s stance of possibly severing ties with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and withdrawing its support for the Perikatan Nasional government.
The Islamist party’s deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said this is due to the fact that Umno will only finalise its decision during its general assembly later this month.
“Because the motion will be debated during its annual general assembly later, PAS will wait and see how far the motion would be accepted or rejected by the delegates,” he was quoted as saying by Malaysiakini.
This comes after Umno’s widely expected decision last night to cut ties with Bersatu failed to materialise following a supreme council meeting.
Last night, Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan said in a statement that the party’s cooperation with Bersatu would be on the agenda when it holds its 2020 annual assembly that was postponed from November last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Umno had built up heavy anticipation for its supreme council meeting last night after 189 of its divisions were purportedly in favour of ending its alliance with Bersatu.
While Pakatan Harapan was ousted as the federal government in February last year, the younger and smaller Bersatu emerged the pre-eminent political force in the federal administration, relegating Umno to a supporting role that has chafed its leaders and members.
Umno’s political manoeuvres even as Malaysia continues to report new record Covid-19 numbers have triggered fears that the country could be forced into a potentially calamitous general election alongside the pandemic.
