JOHOR BAHRU, June 29 -- Former Johor assembly speaker Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi claimed that the secret plot between Umno and PAS to form a political partnership for the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections had led to the former being conceited.

He alleged that such efforts among the Malay nationalist party leaders to hold closed-door negotiations with PAS had existed even in the previous Johor election.

Puad, who was a former Umno supreme council member, revealed that the initial agreement required PAS to sit out the Johor state election, paving the way for a Barisan Nasional (BN) victory in all 56 constituencies.

He claimed that the proposed pact had caused several Umno leaders to be over-confident that the party can be victoriou...