By Teoh El Sen
PAS MUKTAMAR KOTA BARU: PAS was today warned not to forget the “traditional” voters in their zeal to forge new ties with the non-Muslims and win over new votes.
“In our efforts to conquer Putrajaya, sometimes we are too caught up that we sometimes forget our voters. I ask the leadership not to forget the traditional voters,” said Kelantan delegate Nik Mohd Amar Abdullah.
Citing an example, he said even with a second wife, the first wife should never be forgotten.
Nik Mohd Amar said although the relationship between PAS members and non-Muslims is critical to PAS at this stage, it nonetheless called for caution.
“In our relationship with non-Muslims, we must be able to answer sensitive questions with confidence or else we will have problems in the next general election.
“We must stop all confusion,” he said.
Nik Mohd Amar, who is also a member of the Kelantan state executive council, was speaking at the debate session of the 56th annual muktamar (congress) in Pengkalan Chepa, this afternoon.
Party expenses
Meanwhile, Alor Setar delegate Adnad Saad questioned the budget expenditure for the party, to which PAS treasurer Dr Mohd Hatta Ramli explained that much of the increases in party expenses were due to the by-elections in Terengganu, Penang, Perak and Negri Sembilan.
“A lot of the expenses last year went to the by-elections,” said Hatta.
Hatta also addressed queries on the proposed PAS complex after Adnan fired a volley of questions at him over the delay in the project.
“We had some complications but it’s now settled. The PAS complex is now under way. The groundbreaking ceremony was on May 30. We were waiting for local council approvals,” Hatta said.
Support
Meanwhile, a representative from Terengganu, Saiful Bahari Mamat, praised PAS’ efforts in maintaining its position within the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.
He said PAS was now a beacon and example to the people and must continue to strive to counter claims that if PAS stayed with Pakatan, then the coalition will become chaotic.
“But now we see that even non-Muslims are ready to accept us. And for us this is a victory that is sweet and huge. Umno is like an injured tiger, and it will use all its power and strength to take us down,” said Saiful.
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Kedah representative and Bukit Lada state assemblyman Ahmad Izzat Mohd Shauki said that even with all the party hopping within the opposition coalition, PAS must remain strong and show the people that its members do not possess such a culture.
“I hope that the top leadership in PAS will make sure that the people don’t equate us to the defections and continue to have confidence in us.”
Ahmad Izzat also asked the the party leadership to put in place a mechanism to filter all potential election candidates.
“After the PKR defection, we are worried about candidates in Pakatan Rakyat. We must check their records because if the candidate wins but is riddled with debts and has a criminal record, then it will be our fault because we did not put in place a filtering process,” he said.-FMT
