KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — Umno has too many “power crazy” individuals who are willing to pawn their religion for PAS to be able to work with in the 15th general election, the Islamist party’s president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said today.

After months of holding his silence while his party sought to persuade Umno to team up with PAS under their Muafakat Nasional (MN) pact for the common goal of Muslim unity and just a day before nominations and the start to official campaigning, he finally broke his silence on the reason his party chose to stick with the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.

“People like this should be rejected in GE-15,” he said in a video post on Facebook.

According to Hadi, it was Umno that requested to meet PAS to explore teaming up under MN when Parliament was dissolved, rather than what the Malay nationalist party had been telling the media all this time.

“Nevermind, we were prepared and we met at the hotel. I and my deputy president, Umno with its deputy president.

“Then they gave the condition that PAS can only be with Umno and break up with other parties, especially Bersatu,” Hadi said.

He alleged that PAS was only given two days to decide.

“If no decision were made, no working together with PAS. They can command us. Later, they wanted to arrange the seats,” he said.

He claimed Umno demanded PAS’ traditional seat in Pasir Putih, Kelantan as well as its Kubang Kerian representative “to return to Jerantut”, which is a parliamentary seat in Pahang.

“Change here, change there. He became our seat arranger.

“Finally, we made a decision, PN not MN. Why we made the decision of PN and not MN is because of the problems earlier. Because things are very complicated,” Hadi said.

MN was formed by PAS and Umno following the two parties’ electoral defeat in 2018, ostensibly as an attempt to unite the Muslim community in multiracial Malaysia, or what they call, the “ummah”.

Ties between the two parties became increasingly thinner when PAS joined hands with Bersatu to form the PN coalition to take Putrajaya following the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.

Bersatu is led by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, a former Umno deputy president who has been a vocal critics of the Malay nationalist party’s current crop of leaders after his exit.

PN has announced that it will contest in 169 parliamentary seats in the GE15, with PAS to field candidates for 64 seats.

In Pahang, Perlis and Perak which will be holding state elections, PAS will contest in 57 seats.

The Election Commission has set November 5 for nomination, November 15 for early voting and November 19 for polling.