The IDCC Convention Centre in Shah Alam today witnessed a sea of orange in the form of Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) members.

Thousands of Amanah members and supporters alike filled one of the convention centre's large halls, sang the ‘Negaraku’, the ‘Jalur Gemilang’ as well as the party's songs, at the grand launch of the new political party.

The party's logo- with its three orange strips, the word ‘Amanah’ on a black and a white background- was then unveiled to loud cheers from the audience.

The party's president, former PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu ( photo ) in his speech today, was proud of how the party does not shun any races.

"All races are here. I think the red shirt rally today is monopolised by only one race," said Mohamad, who could not help himself from taking a dig at the rally currently happening in the city centre.

At 11.35am today, Mohamad finally launched the new party, and soon after introduced the party's top leadership.

Also present today were top party leaders from other opposition parties such as the DAP's Lim Kit Siang and PKR's Rafizi Ramli. Major NGOs were also present, with Bersih co-chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah also in attendance.

PAS leaders were understandably absent. Amanah was formed by former PAS ‘progressive’ leaders who were defeated in the PAS muktamar back in June.

'Islam is inclusive'

Meanwhile, Mohamad in his speech pointed out how Islam was inclusive and was not discriminatory.

"This concept differentiates the fight often misunderstood by the public as being aimed to protect the Malays and Muslims only," he said.

"In the country's multi-ethnic and multi-religious political context, it is important for Amanah to be different.

"But no matter how open we are, we will still uphold Islam," he said.

He further explained that the form of Islam that will be fought for would be different from the "Muslim nationalism" idea which brings forth Malay-Islam supremacy.

"It is very confusing for an Islamic political concept if it is paired with NGOs or political parties which elevate only the Malay-Islam agenda," he added.

Amanah's top leaders had been part of Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB), a movement formed after the PAS muktamar.

GHB on Aug 31 had announced that it will take over the Malaysian Workers Party and rename it as Parti Amanah Negara.

Mohamad had said that Amanah expected to have 35,000 members by the time of its launch.

During the party's launch today, its secretary-general Mohd Anuar Mohd Tahir ( photo ) confirmed that the party had registered 30,018 members as of today.

In a press conference later, Anuar expressed confidence that the Registrar of Societies (ROS) will grant the party's application to change its name.

"Yes, I am confident," he said, when asked on the matter.

The party's secretary-general said the ROS had invited Mohamad as well as himself for further explanation on the formation of the party.

"They received us warmly, (it was) very cordial. They said a few days were needed for things to finalise.

Asked what Amanah would do should ROS reject its application, Anuar confirmed that there were many "back-up plans", but declined to elaborate.