PETALING JAYA: A PPBM Supreme Council member has ruled out the possibility of his party returning to Umno, saying it is unnecessary for any Malay-Muslim entity to merge with the Barisan Nasional party.
Responding to an opinion piece by Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki for PPBM to return to Umno, Muhammad Faiz Na’aman said the Malays want to have more options now instead of banking on just one particular party.
He added that there were some members of PPBM who had never been a part of Umno in the first place, including himself.
“There is no necessity for any Malay-Muslim based political party in this country, let alone PPBM, to merge with them (Umno) and be under just one ‘all-powerful’ party leader.
“We must embrace the new norms in the national political scenario where power-sharing, respect and tolerance among different groups can ultimately unite not only the Malays but Malaysians as a whole.
“I hope some leaders in Umno can revolutionise their mindset in order to become more forthcoming with the diversity in current political sentiment,” he told FMT.
Faiz also said having a variety of political entities meant that there was a form of check-and-balance in place to ensure that parties were working together for a common national goal.
Writing in his column for Sinar Harian today, Asyraf had called for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and all PPBM members to return to Umno in order to unite the “ummah”.
He said PPBM’s policy, orientation and ideology were no different to that of Umno’s, adding that nearly all of its leadership were previously Umno members.
“History has shown how several splinter parties from Umno eventually returned to the biggest Malay party,” he said, referring to Independence of Malaya Party, Parti Negara and Parti Melayu Semangat 46.