UMNO never removed agenda of ummah unification - Ahmad Zahid

UMNO president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the party always emphasised the issue of sincerity and honesty in any form of agreement and, because of that, it could never accept parties that continued to commit betrayal and took an attitude of making Barisan Nasional (BN) their main enemy.

"Therefore, any effort to revive Muafakat Nasional or any other form of pact and cooperation must be guided by the principles and spirit of the original charter that was once signed and agreed upon.

"As such, any aspect related to this issue should be referred to the statement issued through my official channel or the party's," he said in a statement last night.

On the speculation about his meeting with Pas president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang, Ahmad Zahid, who is also BN chairman, confirmed the matter by explaining that their meeting was held at his residence on Sept 17.

He said the four-eye meeting was held harmoniously based on the spirit of Islamic mahabbah (love) and ukhuwah (brotherhood) while the matters discussed included the agenda on ummah unification that the two parties had initiated once upon a time.

"The UMNO-Pas spirit of political cooperation at that time was centred on the realisation of the need for the two parent Malay-Islamic bumiputera parties to be empowered first to enable the unification of the ummah in the true sense of the word.

"This unification based on the Malay-Islamic bumiputera kinship is the key to harmony in Malaysia's multi-racial plurality," he said.