Yesterday, Mokhtar said Umno seemed to forget the role PAS had played in earlier state elections in its eagerness to retain power without them. He said Umno should not seek to form a government without its Perikatan Nasional allies PAS and Bersatu.
In response, Shahril said that while all were free to give their opinions, Umno would make its own decisions in accordance with the views of its supreme council.
“But succumbing to pressure from external parties, not at all,” he declared in a Facebook post.
He also claimed that Mokhtar did not want Umno to contest a number of seats that would allow it to form a government on its own, and questioned whether the PAS leader would instruct its divisions in Terengganu and Kelantan – two states dominated by PAS – to do the same.
Shahril said whether Umno would choose to work with other parties in Johor would be left to the state liaison body chairman, Hasni Mohammad, and Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan.
However, he warned that Umno should not be blamed if comments like those from Mokhtar “narrowed the space” for cooperation.
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