The battle lines for PAS sticking with Pakatan Rakyat or working with Umno have been drawn, believes Johor DAP chairperson Liew Chin Tong.

He says PAS research centre chief operation officer Mohd Zuhdi Marzuki’s claim that there has been a movement to topple president Abdul Hadi Awang by certain groups in the party since 1998 indicates this.

“I am deeply concerned about the recent developments in PAS. The latest statement by Zuhdi is shocking; that for the first time since the 1982 PAS crisis, a factional ideologue is effectively calling for the elimination of his rival faction.

“Zuhdi is essentially calling for those who are being branded as against Hadi to be ejected from the party after the PAS general assembly,” Liew ( right ) said in a statement today.

”It’s unprecedented and a cause of concern for who hope to see PAS emerging from the current ideological battle to unite and fight Umno,” Liew said.

Yesterday, Zuhdi at a discourse in Kota Baru claimed that there were groups in PAS against the current president which would leave to form a new party after the 2015 PAS general assembly.

He stirred a hornet's nest with his remarks during the Selangor menteri besar crisis last year where a leaked message had him proposing for PAS to join hands with Umno to retake the Selangor government.

Meanwhile, Sinar Harian today reported PAS central committee member Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Aziz also claiming that there were groups in the party that he called "barua" (lackeys) whom he alleged were more loyal to the Pakatan coalition than the party itself.

“Five years ago I wrote a controversial article… the purpose of the article was to give a picture to all PAS members of the existence of an effort to divide the ulama and the professional members through various methods including accusing the president of trying to form a unity government (with Umno),” Nik Abduh was quoted saying.