UMNO and PAS will seal their pact in September after the matter was agreed upon last week, said PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man. 

The agreement has been put on hold as the Umno leaders are busy in August with their party meetings, he said.

“InsyAllah, the charter will be signed in September. Umno will be holding its divisional meetings until the end of the month,” he told The Malaysian Insight. 

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi during the Machang divisional meeting on Saturday also said the pact will be signed soon. 

The presidents of both parties will sign the charter after the agreement was finalised in July 17, Zahid was quoted as saying by Umno online. 

The Umno Supreme Council is expected to hold a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the charter. 

The move to formalise cooperation follows a hat-trick of by-election victories for Umno in the first half of the year.

Barisan Nasional retained the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat and Rantau state seat, and captured the Semenyih state seat which Umno lost to Pakatan Harapan’s pact member Bersatu.

The success was credited to PAS bringing in the Malay vote for the BN coalition after both agreed to work together in the by-elections.

Both parties then decided to formalise their ad hoc arrangement and since then, have been holding talks on it.

Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the charter will be the guideline to initiate cooperation between both Umno and PAS. 

“We had long organised programmes together with PAS. For instance, lectures in the community, grassroots and other levels. 

“I believe there will be more jointly organised programmes during Hari Raya Aidiladha. The charter is only formalities and a clear guideline for cooperation at the national, state and division levels.”

Aside from cooperation, the Umno-PAS charter also underlines three items agreed by both parties – namely, elections, Malay-Islam rights and privileges and issues raised in Parliament. – July 23, 2019.