'Saifuddin shouldn't have attended Opposition's meet' - Khairy

Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah might have violated the UMNO party constitution by attending the Opposition parties' round table meet yesterday, Khairy Jamaluddin said.

The UMNO Youth chief opined that it wouldn’t have been a problem if the programme was a debate or a forum.

But the event yesterday was a programme which discussed the political cooperation between Opposition parties to decide the direction of their new coalition, Pakatan Harapan, he said.

“He (Saifuddin) shouldn’t have been there because it was the Opposition’s round table meet.

“Yes, we can enter debates and forums which are participated by Opposition leaders. I myself have joined those, we have no problems with that.

“We can work (with the Opposition) in Parliament as well as their state governments but programmes by them which talks about cooperation among their parties, I don’t feel that our (Barisan Nasional) member should be involved,” Khairy explained.

Yesterday, the Opposition round table meet had announced the formation of Pakatan Harapan to replace the now defunct Pakatan Rakyat.

The coalition comprised three political parties – Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Amanah Rakyat (Amanah),

It was reported that Saifuddin, who is a former deputy minister and former Temerloh MP, was there to represent the Youth Academy, an NGO.