KUALA LUMPUR: Umno and Pas have rubbished a news report by news portal Malaysiakini, in which it claimed that the political alliance between the two parties involves an agreement on seat divisions.
In a joint statement today signed by Umno secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar Musa and his Pas counterpart Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan, the parties denied the inclusion of such specifics in their agreement.
"This statement refers to a report by Malaysiakini titled 'Seat allocations: Umno prepared for 50-50 split with PAS'.
"The report mentions that the Umno-Pas Charter includes an agreement to divide seats between the two parties by a certain ratio.
"It is stressed upon that the report is not true at all. The charter, which was approved by the consultative committee of each party, did not even touch on matters relating to seat divisions.
"Instead, it is has been agreed (earlier) for both Umno and Pas (to employ) a special mechanism on (addressing) the matter (on seats).
"Hence, all quarters are urged to avoid from making wild speculations on the Umno-Pas Charter and wait until its launching on Sept 14," the statement read.
Malaysiakini, quoting a source, reported that Umno was prepared to hand over its traditional seats to Pas in the next general election, in an arrangement that would see the two parties contesting an equal number of seats.
The source in the report claimed that the agreement was included in the charter in order to prevent clashes for the same seats.