THE now-open PAS-Umno cooperation proves what Pakatan Harapan had been saying all along, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“Prior to this, they were working together in a room. Now, they are cooperating out in the open.

“We already knew about it, when they were secretly working together,” he told reporters after chairing the PH presidential council meeting.

He was asked about the two parties’ plans to partner up in the next general election.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi last night hinted that the 15th general election could see his party working with PAS.

Sharing a stage with PAS on the Seri-Setia by-election campaign trail, Zahid said the two biggest Malay-Muslim parties had been at war for too long, despite having a similar agenda.

Umno is sitting out the by-election to avoid splitting the vote for the opposition, reciprocating PAS’ move to stay out of last month’s Sg Kandis polls to allow for a straight fight between the Barisan Nasional lynchpin and PH.

Similarly, PAS research director Dr Mohd Zuhdi Marzuki said his party’s cooperation with Umno would be defined at the Islamist party’s congress, or muktamar, in Kuala Terengganu next weekend.

He said the top leadership would hear views on the form of cooperation to be entered into before a decision was made.

Until then, any partnership between PAS and Umno is centred on issues relating to the interests of Islam and Malays, as previously decided by the Syura Council of Scholars.

“Whether the cooperation (with Umno) will be closer, or whether it will be in the form of a coalition, this will be decided at the coming muktamar,” Zuhdi told The Malaysian Insight.

The two parties’ relationship has strengthened following the two by-elections called in Selangor within the first 100 days of PH’s GE14 triumph.

On the cases involving former prime minister Najib Razak, Dr Mahathir said his government would choose the ones to prioritise.

“There are many charges against Najib, many wrong things that he has done. We have to choose which one to manage first.”

He said the government was also looking into cases involving BN leaders.

“We won’t focus only on major cases that need clearer evidence, but also smaller cases that involve other leaders in the old administration who are equally guilty.”

He added that it would take time to gather all the evidence.

“There have been some investigations, but they are not yet completed, not yet ready for charges to be brought (against the individuals in question).” – September 7, 2018.