No Umno-Bersatu cooperation in GE15, says Umno info chief

SHAH ALAM - Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan has taken a swipe at his Bersatu counterpart Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan for questioning why Bersatu is not welcomed to participate in the Muafakat Nasional (MN) alliance.

Shahril said the party has rejected any cooperation with Bersatu including through MN based on several grounds.

Through a Facebook post, he said Bersatu was founded to replace Umno which was evident when nearly half of the Bersatu MPs as well as almost all its leaders in Sabah after the 14th General Election (GE14) were former Umno representatives.

He said these people were considered as traitors by the Umno grassroots.

“Bersatu information chief Wan Saiful has questioned the status of Bersatu’s participation in MN after being invited two years ago. I will give a direct answer on the status and the reason why the party was not accepted.

“Bersatu was not honest in the cooperation. This could be proven during the Sabah state election when Bersatu fielded 17 state assemblymen to contest against a Barisan Nasional ( BN) candidate.

“They had also split the votes by fielding an independent candidate who supports Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor’s government after the state election ended,” he said.

He also said Bersatu had registered Perikatan Nasional (PN) without discussing with Umno.

“Again, Bersatu was established to replace Umno, then establishing PN for a similar purpose which is to replace BN,” he added.

Shahril said Bersatu knew that if they joined MN, they would be able to make decisions without the consent of other members, thus that was why they established PN and wooed Pas to join them.

In fact, he said at one point, the BN component party was also invited without any discussions with Umno.

“When they (Bersatu) act this way, how could we accept them in MN? “The 2021 general assembly’s decision was clear. There will not be any cooperation with Bersatu in GE15,” he said.

On Monday, during a ceramah organised by PN, Wan Saiful said Bersatu has never rejected the invitation to join MN after it left Pakatan Harapan.

However, he claimed that the party had yet to receive any update on the invitation.