Umno is currently part of the unity government led by Pakatan Harapan (PH), which includes PKR and DAP. In his Minda Presiden column, Hadi claimed that Umno’s move to cooperate with the two parties had weakened its commitment to Islamic and Malay policies.
The Marang MP claimed this cooperation had caused Umno to become “diseased and increasingly weak”. He added that many within the party had been “silent” on negative practices and wrongdoings to protect their government positions.
“What is being done now shows that Umno is willing to abandon its Islamic and Malay foundations… by working with liberal parties such as PKR and extremely secular parties such as DAP in the pursuit of positions,” he said.
“Suddenly, non-Islamic parties are the ones that brought Umno into a coalition government, even though Umno was not in a strong position (after the 15th general election).”
He said PAS and Umno were not very different in their fundamental Islamic struggle, although they differed in interpretation and approach.
He added that while both parties previously cooperated on issues involving Islam, Malay interests, and national security, Umno had rejected PAS’s offer to work together after the 15th general election out of fear that the Islamic party would become stronger and “destroy” Umno.
He said the claim that PAS would “destroy” Umno was untrue as past cooperation had, in his view, gradually strengthened Islam.
Hadi also claimed that the political power of Muslims has weakened as Umno allowed many smaller parties into coalition governments, and that Muslims must unite based on religion rather than for power, positions, or wealth.
PAS and Umno formed a political alliance known as Muafakat Nasional (MN) to consolidate the Malay-Muslim vote in September 2019.
However, PAS decided to work with Bersatu to form Perikatan Nasional following the fall of the PH government and the appointment of Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister in 2020, which Umno viewed as a betrayal.
PAS also insisted on roping Bersatu into MN, which Umno opposed. The pact ended in December 2022, with Umno going on to back PKR president Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister.