Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Tengku Hamzah believes that the probable pact between PAS and Umno is because both parties need each other.

Umno, he said, had suggested the pact possibly because it believes that it will not receive the support of non-Malays in the next general election.

PAS, on the other hand, probably wants Umno’s support not only because it could no longer be considered as an opposition ally, but because it has been isolated as an old party which only has followers in its strongholds.

“So it’s hard for it to get a lot of support and its fight needs support from authorities like Umno because it wants to implement hudud,” Tengku Razaleigh said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

And this could only be done if the Syariah enactment is amended in Parliament to enable hudud to be implemented in Kelantan and Terengganu and for (PAS) to obtain a two-thirds majority to amend the Federal Constitution.

“If these two parties cooperate, they can maybe make these things happen,” he said.

Tengku Razaleigh, however, cautioned that although Umno may receive the support of the Malays, the party must also pay attention to Sabah and Sarawak.

The East Malaysian states, he said, might be of the opinion that a collaboration with PAS is not a step in defending their interests.

(This is) because Sabah and Sarawak do not consider Islam as the official religion in these states,” he added.

Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali, who was also at the press conference, pointed out, albeit sarcastically, that PAS and Umno had collaborated in Kelantan during the floods that had occurred in the state late last year.

“They were supposed to collaborate in solving the problems of people who lost their homes but when people asked Umno, they were told to ask PAS and when PAS was asked, they said to ask Umno.

“In the end, no houses were built. That is the current collaboration (between the two parties in Kelantan),” he said.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, at the Umno general assembly earlier this month, had extended an olive branch to PAS.

And the al-Azhar graduates regional conference saw both Najib and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang sharing the same stage.

PAS, nevertheless, has yet to make an official decision on the matter.