PAS will not impose any conditions on Umno or interfere in its affairs, said Abdul Hadi Awang as the Islamist party prepares to ink a deal to work with its former Malay nationalist nemesis.

Hadi said the two parties were working together to right the wrongs in the country.

“We will not get involved in Umno’s internal problems,” he said during an interview with the media livesstreamed on Facebook today.

Hadi said PAS was not a party of angels, but it had to be clean at all times.

“We have to be clean, not just others (our allies). All of us have to clean up our own parties.

“We don’t think of ourselves as a party of angels,” he said when asked if his party had imposed any conditions on Umno.

Umno and PAS will sign a charter on September 14 that will lead to the establishment of a new Malay-Muslim nationalist opposition pact ahead of the 15th general election, the two parties announced in a joint statement on Thursday.

The charter will be signed by the respective presidents – Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for Umno and Hadi for 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.

It is estimated that PAS and Umno have a combined membership of between 3.5 million and 4 million, 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 15th 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 27, 2019.