Former PAS deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa reportedly said he felt PAS spiritual adviser Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat was being cruel, when the latter considered his party membership as cancelled along with his position in the party's syura council.

"I felt oppressed in the sense that allusions being made about the issue have gone overboard, as if I had left Islam, by comparing it to divorce and such.

"Meanwhile, I have still yet to receive any written notification about my position as a PAS member," Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia quoted him as saying today.

NONE He was commenting on Nik Abdul Aziz's ( left ) statement on Friday, who reportedly said that it was unnecessary to dismiss Nasharudin from the party in writing.

"The pronouncement of divorce has already been made, if the letter of divorce doesn't come, it is still a divorce... the issue of not receiving the show-cause letter is secondary," Malay daily Sinar Harian had quoted Nik Aziz as saying.

Right to a letter

Nasharudin, however, argued that he had a right to be issued a letter of dismissal from the syura council because the party had previously appointed him to the council with a letter of appointment.

"It is very unfair when I only found out about the issue through the media when I have just returned from Dubai.

"The media is not an official medium for us to deliver such messages," he said, while expressing willingness to abide by the council's decision.

Nasharudin, who is still an ordinary PAS member and the incumbent Bachok MP, also commented about his chances in the upcoming party election.

"For me, if there are attempts to stop me from contesting for any party post, it is not any individual's right to do so.

"However, this is up to the members and the PAS divisions because the spirit of syura (consultation) is not only within the syura council but also within the members at the grassroots," he reportedly said.

'Nasha still member of PAS

Meanwhile, PAS information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man reportedly said Nasharudin is welcome to remain in the party, and clarified that his membership is unaffected although he has been dropped from the syura council.

"He can still serve and fight with PAS although he has no position. In the party, there are thousands without position who still remain and serve as ordinary members...

"Actually, Nasharudin was not sacked from the party, just that he is no longer a syura council member," he was quoted as saying in Sinar Harian today.

He added that Nasharudin was removed from the council due to commitment issues, and before him, many others have been replaced or removed from the council as well.