Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin has backed the idea of PAS uniting with Umno, and even said that such cooperation should start as soon as possible because such cooperation is for the "good of Islam".

"PAS has struggled for so long from outside to repair Umno's politics, why not try it within the same government?" Asri asked in a Facebook posting today.

He stressed that such a cooperation would not mean PAS destroying its own identity, and that it can actually enhance healthy competition between the government and the opposition instead.

"If PAS continues its internal crisis as it has now, it will lead to a three-corner fight in the next elections - which will weaken healthy competition and make one party too dominant," he added.

He said "new ideas" will be born through a PAS-Umno merger, arguing that the government would feel a new internal challenge while a new "space" will open up within the opposition coalition to fill up the void left by PAS.

"It could be good for the country from the 'political ideas' point of view," Asri said.

He added that there are plenty of "common ground" between Umno and PAS, and pointed out that progressive Muslims could have a new space with PAS' version of Islam being gone - which he noted had "various versions" within the party itself.

"The people will also be able to see how far is the honesty of two Malay Islamic parties; a mature assessment can be made," he emphasised.