Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim said PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang's warning that local council elections may lead to another May 13 racial riot is the latter's "personal opinion".

Sinar Harian today reported the PKR de facto leader saying Pakatan Rakyat's position on local council elections should be discussed formally at Pakatan's leadership meeting.

"The statement made by him (Hadi, right ) is his personal opinion," he was reported saying.

He said Pakatan supported democratic processes and the matter of local elections needed to be discussed before decisions are made.

When contacted for details about the meeting reported to be tomorrow, PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil told Malaysiakini that Anwar was misquoted in Sinar .

He said the PKR de facto leader will call Hadi and DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang tomorrow to arrange the meeting, but details have not been firmed up yet.

It remains to be seen if Hadi will attend the meeting, as DAP has complained the PAS chief has absented himself from past leadership meetings.

Hadi had rarely attended Pakatan meetings of late, delegating the party representation to either deputy president Mohamad Sabu or secretary general Mustafa Ali.

The Pakatan leadership council has not met for over six months now and Anwar is struggling to get the three parties together for the meeting.

DAP has insisted that the meeting not proceed until Hadi Awang confirms his attendance, complaining that decisions made in his absence have often been vetoed by him later.

Hadi courted controversy last week when he berated DAP for pushing for local elections, saying it would lead to racial strife.

CM: Local polls and hudud not same

Meanwhile Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng ticked Hadi and PAS secretary general Mustafa Ali off for equating DAP's move to push for local elections with PAS' hudud move.

Speaking at a DAP training session at Summit Hotel, Bukit Mertajam this noon, Lim said while PAS' plans to implement hudud law in Kelantan was done unilaterally, the Penang government had consulted PAS on local polls and had gotten their nod.

"We consulted with them all the way. On hudud they never even consulted us," said Lim ( right ).

He noted PAS had never objected at Pakatan meetings or made previous public statements objecting to Penang's bid for local elections.

"And it was even presented to the state assembly and everyone supported," he said, adding there were no objections from PAS because he had consulted both Hadi and Mustafa earlier.

"I called them up myself personally. Unlike on hudud, they never even called us. They never talked to us.

"They just did it on their own. They only did it with Umno," lamented the CM.

As such, Lim said it was "dishonest" of PAS to claim that they had not been consulted about the local elections.