Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Mazlan Ali said the main obstacle to this was the long-standing competition between both parties for the Malay vote.
Mazlan said the now-defunct Muafakat Nasional (MN) pact between Umno and PAS showed that cooperation between the country’s largest Malay-Muslim parties was hard to maintain when political interests clashed.
“Although they’re both Malay parties, it’s tough for Umno and PAS to join forces because of political considerations. Umno and PAS are traditional rivals for the Malay vote,” he told FMT.
Last week, Hadi urged Umno to “return to the right path” after working with Pakatan Harapan to form the unity government, claiming the Barisan Nasional lynchpin had abandoned its Islamic and Malay principles by working with such “liberal and secular” parties.
In response, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the party would only consider reviving its cooperation with PAS if it removed its “DNA of betrayal”.
He was referring to PAS’s decision to form Perikatan Nasional (PN) with Bersatu in 2020 despite having the MN pact with Umno, which eventually collapsed as a result.
Yesterday, Hadi urged Umno to resume efforts towards Malay-Muslim unity through an Islamic dialogue involving both parties, with muftis and Muslim experts roped in to find common ground between them.
Tawfik Yaakub of Universiti Malaya said it would be more realistic for PAS to work on repairing its relationship with Bersatu in PN instead of trying to rekindle ties with Umno.
He said the PAS-Bersatu cooperation was more pragmatic from a political standpoint, especially since PN already dominates Malay support in key states like Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, and Perlis.
Tawfik said PN’s main challenge now was not uniting the Malay vote, but wooing non-Malay and urban voters.
“They need a more moderate and inclusive image to win over the non-Malay voters, especially in mixed seats,” he said.
Tawfik also warned PAS that its narrative of joining forces with Umno to bolster Malay support might make it hard for PN to attract non-Malays.
“This is the main strategic dilemma faced by PN,” he added.