A PAS Kelantan grassroots leader said urging a party leader to step down should not be made out as a great sin, as it is nothing new in the Islamic party's history.

Saying this was Kota Baru youth leader Rosli Allani Abdul Kadir, who in a statement today expressed his disappointment with the recent crisis that has befallen the party ahead of the leadership polls in June.

“The way we dealt with criticism has shown PAS as a closed party, where any member who questions the leaders is seen as making a mistake.

“If there is any member seen suggesting to party leaders to back down, the member is seen as committing a great sin by not being loyal to the leader,” Rosli Allani said.

Arguing that this has never been the case in the past, Rosli cited an example of an incident involving the late PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat ( left ), who had questioned then-party president Asri Muda openly in Berita Harian in 1982.

Rosli reiterated that instances like that in the party's history did not lead the party into a crisis.   

“In this context, what is the need to fuss over the urging made by several PAS members asking the president to step down?

“What more when the leadership tenure is expected to end this year, especially when the similar urging was made during the same time period in 1982 did not bring any problem to the one who raised the question,” Rosli added.

'Get back to basics'

He called on the party to go back to the original concept of leadership where it emphasises the muktamar as the party’s highest decision maker.

“If the representatives want any position in the party to be contested, it should be contested in a healthy and open manner, as we believe when there is healthy democracy in the party, the party will become stronger.”

He also called on PAS members to reflect on the ‘ bai’ah ’ (oath) which was read out in the 1982 PAS general assembly to restore the harmony in the party and not be side-tracked from the real mission.

PAS is set to hold elections for office-bearers in June and there has already been a lot of friction in the build up to the polls.

This has been fuelled even further with claims such as that made by PAS research centre chief operation officer Mohd Zuhdi Marzuki on Friday night, who said certain groups have been looking to topple president Abdul Hadi Awang ( right ) since 1998.

The divide in the party between those believing that the party should remain with Pakatan Rakyat and those who feel the party should go its own path even if it has to join forces with Umno to sway the Malay vote is larger than ever.