PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa reiterated today that dialogues with Umno does not mean that the Islamic party is considering joining forces with its arch rival.

pas muktamar nasharuddin win post 060609 04 “As delivered by the president in his keynote speech (yesterday), we have never closed our doors to discussions with any party, let alone a political party, a NGO or an Islamic organisation,” said Nasharuddin.

He stressed at a press conference after securing his post at the PAS muktamar today that his position within the party is to focus on enhancing the opposition's coalition Pakatan Rakyat.

Quizzed on the PAS president's call for a unity government with Barisan Nasional, Nasharuddin said: “It was wrongly quoted by the media... the president had stated that the suggestion was with the intention to work together in improving the sectors such as the judiciary, the anti-corruption agency and such.”

On whether his support to engage in talks with Umno had affected his chance in securing a larger majority in the deputy president contest, he said: “The delegates are not influenced by the media... they came here prepared and they know the direction of the party”.

Nevertheless, he said the unity government proposal need to be discussed thoroughly with other partners in the opposition coalition, which he stressed has yet been adopted as a Pakatan policy.

'We discuss issues in the presidential council'

“We (PAS) don’t decide then and there... We talk about issues that is beneficial to the country. Unless there is any major decision to be made, we will bring it to Pakatan.

hadi awang pc 060609 01 “(PAS) is not a one-man-show party, what else if it involves policies... such matters must be brought to the muktamar,” he said.

Moreover, he also explained that Pakatan is based on collective leadership when asked whether PAS intends to lead the coalition.

“The is no need for that as for now... what we do is we discuss issues in the presidential council,” he said, adding that PAS is not looking at dominating the opposition alliance.

Nasharuddin, commenting on his win today, said that he was somewhat confident of winning as the work he had done within PAS for the past four years are reflections to his commitment to the party.

“(However,) it is the decision made by the delegates... I leave it to the delegates to decide on whoever that they want to chose (but) as I have said earlier, it is not a competition between enemies but competition between friends within the party,” he said.

'Delegates were not prepared to vote for me'

Moreover, when asked on the delegates’ wishes for the ulama (religious scholars) faction to head PAS, Nasharuddin said: “There is a combination of different backgrounds in the central working committee... this is a manifestation for PAS - to lead collectively”.

bersih memo to suhakam 130907 mat sabu Meanwhile, former PAS vice-president Mohamad Sabu lamented that he had lost in the deputy president race because not enough delegates were not prepared to vote for him.

However, he accepted his defeat and said that “losing is just a usual thing” and that he has dealt with other losses previously.

Nevertheless, Mohamad reassured that he would continue to give his full support and remain active in PAS.

He added that he would leave it to the discretion of party president Abdul Hadi Awang to consider appointing him into the central working committee.

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