PAS, Umno berbeza pendekatan rakan penyatuan ummah, kata penganalisis

PAS and Umno's differing approaches to ummah unity, a political analyst has noted. Azmi Hassan from the Nusantara Academy explained that Umno's current approach suggests it is more amenable to direct discussion with PAS, as seen during the National Accord (MN) a few years ago. He believes that involving a third party like Wawasan Nasional (Wawasan), which also competes for Malay seats, would make the distribution of seats more complicated, particularly as the 16th general election approaches.

"Ummah unity for Umno specifically means working only with PAS," he told FMT. Meanwhile, Tawfik Yaakub from the University of Malaya said that PAS Vice President Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man's statement that the ummah unity should be extended beyond PAS and Umno shows that the party needs to consider the sensibilities of its coalition partners in PN.

According to him, PAS cannot become the narrative of unity that positions other parties merely as accessories or secondary considerations when power dynamics unfold. "Any political cooperation formula needs to be more inclusive and not sacrifice the interests of existing allies," he added. However, Tawfik cautioned that broadening cooperation has its own challenges, as more parties involved make discussions regarding leadership, seat distribution, and relations with BN and PN more intricate.

Tawfik believes a wider framework could help PAS build a more inclusive narrative of Malay-Islam unity, but at the same time, it opens up space for competition between parties. Recently, Tuan Ibrahim stated that PAS and Umno need to broaden the ummah unity agenda to include various stakeholders and not limit themselves to just the relationship between the two parties.

This came as the relationship between PAS and Umno is again in the spotlight after both parties collaborated in the state election of Negeri Sembilan.