UMNO and PAS will sign a charter on September 14 that will formally pave the way for a new Malay-Muslim nationalist opposition pact ahead of the 15th general election, the two parties announced in a joint statement today.

The charter will be signed by the respective presidents Ahmad Zahid Hamidi of Umno and Abdul Hadi Awang of PAS at Dewan Merdeka, in the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur, where Umno holds its annual general assemblies.

The agreement between the long-time political rivals has been widely expected, given how close they have become after Umno lost its grip on power for the first time in the country’s history at last year’s May general election.

In the PAS muktamar (annual congress) last month, the party’s grassroots leaders gave their blessing for the Islamist party to forge a formal alliance with Umno.

Today, the secretaries-general of Umno and PAS, Annuar Musa and Takiyuddin Hassan, said the signing ceremony would include a joint-charter and memorandum of understanding.

“Umno and PAS have reached a consensus to work together (ta’awun) to face the challenges of the country’s political landscape,” they said.

It is estimated that PAS and Umno have between 3.5 million and 4 million members between them, all of whom are from the country’s Malay-Muslim community, which makes up more than 61% of all voters.

The Umno-PAS alliance is counting on the ruling coalition Pakatan Harapan’s low support from this critical group in order to boost its chances of winning the 15^th general election.

However, its critics in PH have called the upcoming pact a “klepto-theocracy” because PAS leaders are using their Islamic credentials to whitewash a party that has been mired in corruption scandals.

Zahid, the current Umno president faces 87 charges of receiving bribes and using his former position as deputy prime minister to enrich himself.

Zahid’s ex-boss, former prime minister Najib Razak, also faces multiple charges of fraud and abuse of power in the theft of funds from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MBD).

Najib was made adviser to Barisan Nasional, the former ruling coalition Umno still leads. – July 25, 2019.