PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari has described Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s speech at the 2026 Umno General Assembly today as a bold “declaration of political war”.
Fadhli said he had drawn several key conclusions from Zahid’s policy speech, titled “Melakar Masa Depan Bangsa” (Charting The Future Of The Nation).
He said the most striking part was Zahid’s open reference to “guru”, or teacher, when he said, “cukuplah guru, berhentilah” (enough, teacher, stop).
“There is no need to hide too much to understand who the jibe was directed at. I listened to the speech as though it were a declaration of political war,” Fadhli said in a Facebook post on Friday.
He said Zahid had also touched on what he described as a betrayal of a political agreement, claiming that what had originally been promised was the formation of a “National Unity Government”, but what eventually emerged was the “Madani Government”.
Fadhli also said Zahid appeared to take a clear swipe at the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government when he referred to the notion that “today we win, tomorrow all problems are solved”.
“On top of that, Ahmad Zahid clearly and openly took a swipe at the Pakatan Harapan government when he said we are not a government that promises that ‘today we win, tomorrow all problems are solved’,” he said.
Umno had earlier agreed to invite PAS’s top leadership to attend the 2026 Umno General Assembly, held from Sept 9 to 12, in return for an invitation extended by PAS to Umno leaders.
Umno and PAS had previously forged a formal political cooperation through Muafakat Nasional (MN), which was established in 2019.
Fadhli also pointed to the timing of Zahid’s speech, saying it fell exactly 25 years after the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks in the United States on Sept 11, 2001.
“Twenty-five years ago, the WTC in New York became the scene of a physical attack.
“Today, the WTC Kuala Lumpur has become the stage for a political attack,” he said.
Fadhli said the key question now was who the political “war” had been declared against, although he suggested that many already had an idea.
“Against whom has the war been declared? That is what will be interesting to watch from now on, although everyone can already guess,” he said.
Fadhli also thanked Umno for the invitation and warm reception extended to PAS leaders.
“Attending the Umno General Assembly for the first time this morning was an important opportunity to witness for myself an event that I would describe as historic,” he said.
