The Malaysian Insight

Umno must seek atonement (taubat) for its sins towards the Kelantanese people before the state’s PAS chapter can accept and work with them, said a delegate from the ulama wing.

Yusof Hassan said the Malay nationalist party has a long history of oppressing PAS and the Kelantan government which it had ruled since 1990.

Umno had also betrayed PAS in the late 1970s when the former brought down a PAS state administration through a vote of no confidence and a subsequent state-level emergency, he said. 

Umno did this while both parties were in Barisan Nasional at the time.

Successive Umno-led federal governments since the 1990s had also denied funds to Kelantan, he added.

This long history is why Kelantan PAS members still find it hard to accept cooperation with Umno despite the wishes for the party’s leaders, he said.

“Umno has to atone to the Kelantanse people – only then can the Kelantanese accept Umno.

“The leadership must tell Umno this that they have to go on stage in public and apologise openly for all the wrongs that they have done (towards Kelantanese people).

“Umno till this day doesn’t admit the wrongs it has committed. But it has to – only then can we work with them,” said Yusof. – June 20, 2019.