Jamil pushes for Umno-PAS political cooperation

KUALA LUMPUR: Efforts to establish political cooperation between Umno and PAS are required towards strengthening MalayMuslim unity in the country.

Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom said such cooperation was enjoined by the religion and in fact, mentioned in the Quran, to ensure the survival of the Muslim community.

He said based on that, Umno, with sincerity, courage and honesty, was prepared to cooperate (with PAS) in fulfilling a religious obligation.

“This matter should transcend the political dimension and be implemented to bring good and in tandem with our religious consciousness as Muslims.

“This resolution will be brought into the main agenda for debate at the upcoming Umno general assembly,” he said when speaking at the Third Session: Religious Discussion at the Ummah Agenda Empowering Convention 2.0 at the Putra World Trade Centre yesterday.

The assembly will be held here from Nov 29 to Dec 3.

Jamil Khir, who is a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, said efforts towards bolstering Malay-Muslim unity was among the four main thrusts at the convention.

The other three are enhancing the Malaysian Islamic civilisation model, empowering the Islamic institutions and agencies, and raising the quality of Islamic education in the country.

Earlier, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said the country’s current challenging economic situation, which had pushed the cost of living up, was due to external factors.

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said the ruling political party and Government would not take actions that would cause suffering to the people.

“The Government reacts according to its capacity in this uncertain economic climate due to the prevailing challenges.

“This situation has to be translated into reduced subsidies or restructuring of subsidies, and this is our response to the external factors,” he said during the first session of the convention.

During the question-and-answer part of the discussion, Abdul Rahman said revenue collected from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) managed to save the country’s finances following the drop in global oil prices since 2014.

He said the country’s revenue of about RM40bil from oil declined by half following the fall.

“Imagine, you lose half of your salary every month without prior notice.

“The GST has saved us and our country’s history will commend our party leaders for daring to create the GST,” he said. — Bernama