KUALA LUMPUR: An Umno Supreme Council member revealed the tension between the party and Pas culminated during the 2021 Melaka snap election.
Recalling the episode, Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan claimed that the cooperation between the two parties under the Muafakat Nasional (MN) charter deteriorated after Pas rejected Umno's seat offer in favour of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).
"I was the Umno secretary-general at the time. The party issued an official statement inviting Pas to work together with us for the Melaka state election.
"We agreed to offer Pas a number of seats, but the party rejected the offer, perhaps because they were offered more seats with Bersatu.
"The ties (between Umno and Pas) was severed with that rejection. And Pas did not win even a single seat in the Melaka state election after the party chose to cooperate with Bersatu," he told the New Straits Times.
Ahmad, who is now the Deputy Works Minister, added that Pas could have won at least four seats in the Melaka snap polls and become part of the state government if the party had accepted Umno's offer.
"Umno, alongside its allies in Barisan Nasional (BN), won 21 of the 28 seats in Melaka. That is a 'history' that can't be erased.
"Why did Pas reject Umno's offer in the Melaka state election, which became an important indicator of the ties between the two parties under MN at that time?
"The question should be asked to (Pas president Tan Sri Abdul) Hadi Awang and Pas secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan," he said.
Earlier today in Perak, Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the party will never work with Pas as long as Hadi is the president of the Perikatan Nasional component party.
Zahid based this statement on his experience working with Hadi, whom he claimed has always been inconsistent with his stance.