PAS is set to learn a bitter lesson from UMNO for the third time in the upcoming 16th general election (16GE) since both would lead their coalitions to combine forces under the “perpaduan ummah” (Muslim unity) banner.
BERSAMA co-leader Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli pointed out that it is in UMNO’s DNA against being under other parties. The Barisan Nasional (BN) lynchpin never felt that it should share power. It was not formed to share power.
Both PAS and UMNO kickstarted their recent political cooperation in the Negeri Sembilan state election and are continuing it in the Melaka state polls.
Their collaboration was successful enough to throw out Pakatan Harapan out of power in Negeri Sembilan.
Speaking in a ceramah in Pengkalan Batu on Deepavali night, the former PKR deputy president pointed out that the UMNO-PAS collaboration had never lasted beyond three years.
Youtube link
The first attempt was in 1974. It was the year BN was formed. PAS was invited to join. PAS was in BN for three years. In 1977, a political crisis happened that led to the federal government declaring emergency. In 1978, UMNO won in Kelantan election.
The second attempt Muafakat Nasional is a formal political cooperation charter for both the parties in 2019. By 2022, their relations strained as PAS preferred its then ally in Perikatan Nasional (PN).
The Muafakat Nasional collaboration coincided with the time the eighth and ninth prime ministers were in office – Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
Both the parties are also well known for using its race and religion card to solidify their support base.
The former economy minister added Pakatan Harapan (PH) parties cooperated with UMNO to form the present government without an alternative plan, resulting in parties such as DAP also resorting to the same fear mongering that UMNO and PAS used.
PH’s decision also revived UMNO and BN.
Elaborating further, the former PKR deputy president elaborated that both UMNO and PAS are using the narrative that the Chinese are uniting under DAP hence why Malays must unite UMNO and PAS.
This racial baiting however does not reflect the realities faced by voters from various communities.
As a result of that none of the parties dare to take a risk and resolve issues. This is why BERSAMA is opposing parties that are practising identity politics. —Nov 9, 2026
Main image credit: Youtube/Rafizi Ramli
