He said despite speculation that both parties are set to officially join forces, buoyed by the presence of Umno leaders at the recent PAS muktamar in Kuala Terengganu, Umno is also eyeing other opportunities in its bid to rise from the ashes following its shock defeat in the May polls.
Among those who attended the muktamar were Umno deputy president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Annuar Musa and Mahdzir Khalid.
“Zahid is also looking at opportunities for cooperation with Pakatan Harapan, notably with its component party PKR, through his good relations with Anwar Ibrahim,” said Universiti Malaya’s Awang Azman Awang Pawi.
Zahid had been aligned to Anwar when the latter was the number two man in Umno, before his dismissal in 1998.
Awang Azman said the same is true with PAS, which has made no secret of its attempts at wooing PH partners.
“It is open to cooperation not just with Umno, but also with PH component parties, or with other parties,” he added.
He said both parties, considered the largest Malay political parties in the country but which were defeated at the federal level, were aware of the current political reality.
“They just need another party to lean on in the current political scene. It is about political survival and staying relevant,” he told FMT.
PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang recently said the party was prepared to form political cooperations with all quarters.
Hadi said such cooperations could also include PH parties. The PAS leader had also not mentioned Umno specifically during his policy speech at the recent muktamar.
Zahid reportedly confirmed that Umno MPs had signed statutory declarations allowing him to negotiate with political parties outside of Barisan Nasional (BN).
Umno vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin has also proposed a new pact called “Pakatan Malaysia”, comprising PAS, MCA, MIC, Gabungan Parti Sarawak, Gabungan Bersatu Sabah and PKR.
Awang Azman said Umno appeared desperate to form a new alliance because it had never before lost the way it did in the May 9 general election, which ended its six decades in power.
“This is why, they need a political pact that will truly have an impact, power and major influence. They want to become relevant again,” he said.
He added that in any negotiation to form a coalition, Umno would hold the upper hand, due to their lion’s share of the opposition seats as well as their experience in governance.
Awang Azman said the proposal by Khaled showed Umno’s strategy to woo anyone that could restore the party’s power.
“This is because of the belief that Pakatan Malaysia would be stronger than the pact within BN. It is fresh, energised, combined with existing experience to face a new political atmosphere,” he said.
Awang Azman said he was not ruling out the proposed pact’s formation, but added that it depended on whether Umno can reinvent itself.