SHAH ALAM - Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's statement against Pas president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang was criticised as a failure to conduct proper research before commenting on the party's offer to cooperate in the Unity Government.
Central Pas information chief Khairil Nizam Khirudin said that in reality, it was the veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang who had initially invited Pas to join the Unity Government.
He said the invitation from Lim to Pas to join the Unity Government was because the government's position was still fragile with Umno losing support from the Malay community.
"The fact remains that Lim had offered Pas to join the Unity Government first because the government was in a fragile position at that time and the weakening support for Umno among the Malay community.
"Zahid needs to stop his continuous practice of deceiving Umno members and the general public," he said in his Facebook post today.
He said the claim of "never to work with DAP and Anwar", followed by forming a coalition with a party that Umno members had long held animosity towards is regarded as the "biggest lie and propaganda".
On Saturday, Hadi said that the offer was made by Pakatan Harapan (PH), particularly PKR because they recognised their unstable position, considering that their total Malay seats were significantly fewer compared to Pas.
On Sunday, Zahid, who is also the Barisan Nasional (BN mocked Hadi's statement, dismissing he was being delusional.