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During the 56th PAS Muktamar (General Assembly) in June 2010, a Perlis PAS delegate, Wan Khaisal Wan Khazim supported the idea for the opposition alliance to be led by the party and its spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat should be the opposition leader.
According to Wan Khaisal, Nik Aziz deserved to be the leader of the opposition as he led the Kelantan state government for 20 years and his leadership was well received by people of various races.
“He should be the spiritual leader of Pakatan Rakyat,” said Wan Khaisal when debating the Presidential address at the Muktamar.
In another statement from, PAS Secretary General Datuk Mustafa Ali has described a proposal by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to appoint a non-Malay as a deputy prime minister should the opposition come to power as a media sensation.
Speaking when winding up debate at the 56th PAS Muktamar (general assembly) at the Kelantan Tarbiyah Islamiyah Centre, Mustafa urged all quarters especially the media not turn the issue into a polemic as it would confuse the people. He said any decision on the appointment of a non-Malay as a deputy prime minister must be collectively endorsed by all component parties in the opposition.
Later, PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said he was unaware of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's promise to create a second deputy prime minister post for DAP if the opposition pact were to win the next general election. He said the matter is yet to be discussed by Pakatan Rakyat leaders.
"I don't know, (as) we've not discussed it. That's his (Anwar's) personal opinion," he said.
As witnessed from the above statements from various PAS leaders and delegates, it seems that PAS is being critical of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition especially on who is the rightful leader of the coalition. There have been a debate on which political party should lead the Opposition alliance since the defection of a number of MPs from both PKR and DAP. PAS is the only opposition party in the coalition with zero number of defections by its leaders.
On that note, delegates and a number of leaders are suggesting that PAS might be the most stable party to lead the coalition and, based on this alone, its spiritual leader should be the Opposition leader.
However, the veteran politician and Kelantan MB does not want to be the number one leader of the opposition coalition should it win the general election. According to him, Anwar is the one most suitable for the job.
"I don't want to be the number one man although someone has have proposed it. I've always said that Anwar is the most suitable person because he has passed the physical and moral tests. If people appoint me, I will give it to him," he told reporters in a press statement.
On the remark by a delegate that the Indian community likened him to India's revered leader, Mahatma Gandhi, Nik Aziz said that was alright but he could not accept the post of supreme leader of the opposition coalition as Gandhi himself never accepted the offer to become the Prime Minister of India when the country gained it’s independence.
Nik Aziz’s statement seems to contradict those that came from the other PAS leaders’. It made reading the future direction of PAS even more difficult. On one hand there are the conservative leaders lead by President Hadi Awang and on the other hand there are the moderate progressive leaders like Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin and Khalid Samad. Some Chinese people even openly admitted they are more than willing to vote for a PAS leader because of these new progressive PAS leaders.
PAS effort to reposition itself as a moderate and forward-thinking party has gained considerable mileage seeing as its opening of doors to non-Muslims / non-Malays has made it much more recognized by Malaysians of other races. To expand on this new-found popularity, they have established a non-Muslim supporters wing and, more recently, had allowed non- Muslims candidates contesting under the PAS ticket to use the party symbol in the next general election.
The only thing is, albeit giving themselves a new spark of life by way of rebranding exercise, from the messages conveyed during their recent Muktamar, one can’t help getting a gist of the lack of cohesion within the party as well as among Pakatan leaders. This has been evident since that time when certain PAS leaders got Tok Guru fuming following their partiality towards joining forces with Umno (again). Even until now it’s stillapparent that the party is ill at ease at times in adjusting to the fairly new coalition and to the emergence of moderate progressive personalities within the party. Still, it will be interesting to observe what other progressive shifts are in store for the party in the indefinite months leading to the next General Election.
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