BERA, Oct 16 — PAS and Umno should avoid insulting or hurling attacks against one another, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said such an act was not only prohibited by Islam but also because the two parties used to work together under Muafakat Nasional, which had now become strained.
“We shouldn’t be making attacks at each other because the ties may be rekindled again in the future. In politics, we are not forever enemies, and it is not forever that we are friends, and as such, we should avoid hurting other people’s feelings.
“Who knows, one day we will sit together again for the sake of the Muslim ummah and the Malays in the country. If we make baseless allegations, it will only create animosity for one another hurt,” he said to reporters after launching the P090 Bera Barisan Nasional (BN) machinery.
Prior to that, Ismail Sabri, who is also Umno vice-president, opened the Bera Umno divisional meeting at the Bera District Council Convention Hall here.
The caretaker prime minister said this in response to PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang's statement last Oct 14 that PAS had suspended cooperation with Barisan Nasional (BN) because the coalition was tainted with corruption.
Hadi made the statement a day after BN chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that Umno and BN had decided to go solo in the upcoming 15th general election (GE15).
Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri, who is also Bera Umno division leader, in his speech when launching the BN election machinery, hinted that he would defend the parliamentary seat, which he had won since 2004, in GE15, if agreed upon by the party leadership.
He reminded the party machinery to unite and work together to ensure victory for all BN candidates, regardless whether they are from Umno, MCA or MIC, in the constituency. — Bernama
