PAS information chief Dr Haron Din has urged delegates attending the party's munaqashah (special convention) this weekend not to be afraid in expressing their views and criticisms on policies and the leadership.

"To those attending the munaqashah, I wish to tell them that we have the meeting so that we can come out with a clear direction for the party.

"For that we (party leaders) want to hear what you have to say or offer on the party's direction. No one can stop you from speaking," he said when contacted.

He said delegates need not worry that their views will be taken out of context as the convention would be a private affair and be off limits to all media expect the official organ, Harakah .

"We want to speak openly on internal issues of the party, criticism, approaches, strategies. So that is why we have decided to make it a private affair. Maybe when the convention ends (on Sunday), the president will issue a press statement to the media," he added.

Free expression

Haron, who is also the party's deputy mursyidul am (spiritual leader), dismissed allegations of attempts by certain leaders to muzzle the delegates from making strong criticisms.

The PAS leader said that free expression is not new to the party.

"I have not detected such attempts. But I believe there's no reason for any leader to resort to such measures as delegates have always been civilised. No matter how hard the criticisms, they were always conveyed in civilised manner and language.

"We have never had a negative perception against those who spoke their mind in the past and it's unlikely that we will start now. What is important is that we as leaders grasp the message the members and supporters are making.

"If you had attended our muktamar (annual general assembly) like the recent one we had, everyone was allowed to speak their mind. I prefer to call it advise rather than criticism," he added.

Speaking on the special convention's programme, he said it will be kicked off with the tabling of reports by three key leaders, including himself. The other two are vice-presidents Mustafa Ali and Dr Hassan Ali.

"Mustafa will be presenting a paper on the election post-mortem report , while Hassan will be speaking on strengthening the party while I will be discussing about forming a more effective leadership for the ulama (religious scholars)," he explained.

He said party leaders hoped to identify all key points that need to be highlighted before bringing it up to the central working committee and the Majlis Syura Ulama (scholars consultative council) to be endorsed.

Anwar issue

Meanwhile, grassroots leaders say one of the hot issues to be debated at the convention would be the party's association with former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, adding that murmurs of disapproval against him playing a major role in opposition coalition has not ceased.

A PAS division leader from Kuala Lumpur said there is a need for the party to give clear guidelines on its association with Anwar as far as their political strategy is concerned.

He said to date although party president Abdul Hadi Awang had stated PAS' readiness to work with Anwar within the opposition coalition, three of the president's top-level colleagues have expressed otherwise.

"Several key leaders have been making negative statements about Anwar. These statements - although more often made in private than in public- are confusing us at the ground level," he added.

A Selangor-based PAS Youth leader said he has been receiving mix signals from various leaders on Anwar's role as leader of the opposition coalition Barisan Alternatif, of which PAS is a member.

"For instance, in the political bureau meeting last week, a leader actually accused Anwar of being a CIA agent quoting a diplomatic leader! Surely this is too much," he added..

A politician from Perlis related the Youth wing's experience in organising a ceramah in the state two weeks after Anwar was released.

"They invited (Parti Keadilan Rakyat leader) Saifuddin Nasution and (Anwar's lawyer) Zulkifli Nordin as speakers. The response was tremendous! But yet they got a tongue lashing from the senior leaders. After that Anwar Ibrahim became a taboo issue here," he said.

Meanwhile, vice-president Azizan Abdul Razak said although there is nothing to stop the delegates from raising the Anwar issue at the convention, he personally thinks it's a non-issue.

"What is there to be confused about? It is clear that PAS supports the man because we share the same trench in fighting corruption and other positive values," he added

'Pure lies'

He also denied there were key leaders who make disparaging remarks against the former deputy premier.

When told that he was among the leaders alleged to be badmouthing Anwar, the vice-president was surprised and labelled it as 'fitnah' (slander).

"These are pure lies! How could they make such accusations when I have great respect for Anwar both as a politician and friend. In fact, I know him and his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail since we were studying in the UK during the 1970s.

"Why should I have difficulties in working with Anwar when we have always been working with Keadilan led by Wan Azizah," he said.

Asked if he had heard any other party leaders making disparaging remarks against Anwar, Azizan replied: "We are Muslims. It is not our culture to speak badly of people. Least of all about friends like Anwar."