[ad_1]
PETALING JAYA: A member of the PPBM Supreme Council has ruled out the possibility of his party returning to Umno, saying that it is unnecessary for any Malaysian-Muslim entity to merge with the Barisan Nasional party.
In response to an opinion piece by Umno Youth Chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki for PPBM to return to Umno, Muhammad Faiz Na’aman said Malaysians want to have more options now instead of betting on just one particular match. .
He added that there were some PPBM members who had never been a part of Umno in the first place, including himself.
“There is no need for any Malay-Muslim political party in this country, much less PPBM, to merge with them (Umno) and be under a single ‘all-powerful’ party leader.
“We must embrace the new norms on the national political stage where shared power, respect and tolerance between different groups can finally unite not only Malays but Malays as a whole.
“I hope that some leaders in Umno can revolutionize their way of thinking to be more communicative with the diversity in the current political sentiment,” he told FMT.
Faiz also said that having a variety of political entities meant that there was a form of check and balance to ensure that the parties worked together for a common national goal.
Writing in his column for Sinar Harian today, Asyraf had asked Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and all members of the PPBM to return to Umno to unite the “ummah.”
He said that PPBM’s policy, orientation and ideology were no different than Umno’s, adding that almost all of its leaders were formerly Umno members.
“History has shown how various splinter parties from Umno eventually returned to the largest Malay party,” he said, referring to the Malaya Independence Party, Parti Negara and Parti Melayu Semangat 46.
