He, however, apologised for creating the uproar between Amanah and Umno, saying that “upsetting them was not the intention”.

“The intention was just to convey our stance. Sorry, but we have a different opinion and we hope you (Umno) can respect that,” he told FMT.

He added that Amanah had never criticised Umno for asking the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to consider granting Najib a royal pardon and that both sides should now “agree to disagree”.

Previously, Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi lambasted Amanah after the party refused to retract its call for Najib’s bid for a pardon to be rejected.

Puad claimed that Amanah was acting well out of order, even accusing them of questioning the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s wisdom and discretion. He said this is why it was difficult for Umno to forge close ties with Amanah.

“Perhaps (Amanah) can only be a ‘friend’ — a friend who doesn’t guarantee the unity government will last. A friend who stabs (us) in the back,” he said.

In response, Khalid denied stabbing anybody “in the back or in the front”, adding that neither he nor Amanah had ever made statements to threaten ties in the unity government.

“They (Umno) are the ones talking about breaking up the unity government. We are committed to making it work.

“We have never mentioned anything about breaking up the government even though we don’t see eye to eye on some issues, but we accept that as a fact that we have to live with.”

He then called on both sides to move on and focus on the upcoming state elections.

Yesterday, Kelantan Umno demanded that Khalid issue a public apology to the party for calling for Najib’s pardon application to be rejected.

The chapter’s information chief Zawawi Othman said Kelantan Umno would consider not working with Amanah for the coming state election should Khalid, who is also interim Kelantan Amanah chairman, refuse to retract his statement.