KUALA LUMPUR: A permanent secretariat for the Muafakat Nasional would be next step taken by Umno and Pas to further enhance their political pact.
Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Umno and Pas would jointly administer the secretariat which will be based at Umno’s headquarters in Putra World Trade Center (PWTC).
“Both Umno and Pas secretary-generals will be appointed as joint secretary-generals while both parties’ deputy presidents will be the coordinating chairmen.
“And the (Umno) vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khalid Nordin with Pas vice-presidents (unnamed) will lead the technical committee.
“With what we agreed upon, there will be a national-level Muafakat Nasional congress that will be held at a later date,” he said at a press conference after his winding-up speech at the 73rd Umno General Assembly here today.
On whether the establishment of the permanent secretariat echoed the call of Umno Youth to institutionalise Muafakat Nasional, Zahid said Umno would first need to gather responses from Pas and other Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties, before the proposal could be materialised.
“We have to articulate the proposal and I reckon we need to get good response from Pas as well as from our BN component members. No final decision yet."