Puad Zarkashi said while an alliance might look good on paper, PAS had the tendency to withdraw from such pacts as quickly as it joined them.

He cited the various alliances the Islamic party had joined in the past, including Barisan Alternatif and Pakatan Rakyat.

Puad said these alliances were now “dead and buried”, and that it was only a matter of time before Perikatan Nasional, the opposition coalition which PAS is currently part of, met the same fate.

“If discussions revolving around an Umno-PAS pact are raised at the Supreme Council, I would be the first to shoot down the proposal.

“It is not a good idea,” he said in a Facebook post.

Puad also said that if PAS had no qualms about exploiting religion, it would not hesitate to do the same with Umno.

“PAS will use Umno only to gain power,” he said.

Last Saturday, Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh said the two parties must take the lead in fostering solidarity in calling for Malay unity.

Akmal’s call for cooperation with PAS followed PAS election director Sanusi Nor’s statement that Muafakat Nasional (MN) – the electoral pact forged between PAS and Umno in 2019 – should be revived as a platform for unity ahead of the next general election.

Sanusi said ties between PAS and Umno were vital for political stability, especially at the grassroots level.

His call echoed that of other PAS leaders who had repeatedly brought up the idea of reviving the MN alliance.