Umno is not so desperate to work with PAS that it would be willing to grovel before them, said Umno Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin today.

"We are not so weak that we need to beg. If there's no cooperation, then there's no need for it.

"We move on our own strengths [...] we are not that desperate," Khairy said at a press conference at Kuala Lumpur's Putra World Trade Centre.

He was responding to a suggestion by Umno Cheras chief Syed Ali Alhabshee last week for the PAS Syura Council to reconsider its decision not to join Umno or BN.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had extended an olive branch to PAS at the 69th Umno annual general assembly early last month which was well received by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.

Both leaders shared the same stage at a regional conference in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 17 last year.

Despite PAS' repeated denials, speculation lingers on the possibility of Umno and PAS forming a pact for the next general election.