He hoped the pact will not succeed for the sake of the country’s multiracial society.

“It is a dangerous cooperation. Their politics is still based on a very primitive and dangerous level of thinking,” he said after a public forum here on whether the roles of Attorney-General and Public Prosecutor should be separated.

Asked whether the collaboration between the two parties would weaken opposition parties such as the DAP and PKR, Zaid said it was not necessary that would happen.

“It is not necessary that PAS and Umno will get stronger if both join hands. That’s because I have full confidence in the Malays doing the right thing. They are more aware than what PAS think.”

Zaid, a former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, said that perhaps some Malays lacked understanding because they received the wrong information.

“It is a matter of time, they will understand and make the right decision,” he added.

Zaid’s remarks came in the wake of a recent motion to fast-track a private member’s bill submitted by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang. The bill seeks to provide parliamentary approval for an amendment to the Kelantan syariah courts enactment which provides for Islamic criminal penalties.

Opposition parties have described the bill as the “hudud bill” while supporters of the bill say it only enhances the syariah court’s powers.