The prime minister said PAS has to first retract its statement labelling Umno as a party of infidels (kafir) before the two parties can finalise their cooperation with the signing of a charter.

He said PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has yet to officially retract this statement to enable his party to forge an alliance with Umno.

“Even the United Nations charter has been unable to stop wars, what more the Umno-PAS charter. They were (political) rivals. PAS has said Umno is a party of infidels,” he said with a hint of sarcasm at a press conference here.

Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa and his PAS counterpart Takiyuddin Hassan said recently the charter, drawn up by a joint committee, will be signed by the presidents of the two parties at Dewan Merdeka, Putra World Trade Centre.