KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 11 -- Beside one of the ministry booths at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur, Muhammad Awang stood with a friend and picked up a copy of Utusan Malaysia from a pile laid out for delegates as others milled around the Umno general assembly.

At 68, the Umno Kuala Krai division secretary has seen the party's relationship with PAS shift from cooperation to rivalry and back again.

But as Umno now looks to forge a fresh understanding with its former political rival, Muhammad believes the past should not stand in the way of trying again.

"We have to put aside our respective egos. We have to be big-hearted," he told Malay Mail on the sidelines of the assembly here.

Muhammad said any renewed cooperation between Umno and PA...