"PAS will need to ‘sacrifice' some big names from its leadership line-up if it wants to resolve the internal issues stemming from the ‘unity government' controversy which continues to plague the party," said political analyst Abdul Aziz Bari.

"No need to repeat again what I have already said. If it is too difficult, then (deputy president) Nasharuddin Mat Isa or (Selangor PAS commissioner) Hasan Ali must be dropped from the line-up, because it is clear that PAS needs a ‘sacrifice'," he added.

pas muktamar 070609 hadi awang 02 Abdul Aziz, who specialises in constitutional law, brought up the issue a few months ago when invited to give his opinions regarding the Islamic party's future under president Abdul Hadi Awang (right) , whose leadership, many feel, is weak and must be replaced in order to save the political party.

The political analyst is expected to continue his criticism and defend his views in the upcoming PAS political seminar in Gombak this Saturday.

The political seminar is to replace the EGM that was proposed by spiritual advisor Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat who blew his top with the party's leadership. Nik Aziz reportedly quoted Abdul Aziz's ‘ Pengajaran dari Bagan Pinang ' (Lessons from Bagan Pinang) in his blog posting, airing his disappointment with the party.

Abdul Aziz who is closely linked with opposition politics in Malaysia criticised president Hadi and several senior party leaders. This includes Hasan who is seen as the origin of the party's troubles in Selangor and brought about the loss of votes in the earlier Bagan Pinang by-election.

When contacted by Malaysiakini today, Abdul Aziz said that if PAS fails to reform itself, Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim may ‘correct' the situation by dropping Hasan from his exco line-up.

In the upcoming seminar, this November 7, Abdul Aziz will be given half an hour to convey his controversial views to about one thousand PAS members - mainly made up of senior party leaders from all levels and divisions, including the party's three ' Dewan ' (wings).

Abdul Aziz, who has given a lengthy explanation about his article in Sinar Harian, however will not be presenting a working paper. Instead, he will give a spontaneous speech.

The seminar, which is scheduled to be opened by Hadi, is expected to feature another academician, Abu Hassan Hasbullah, a Media Studies Department lecturer from Universiti Malaya.

‘Hadi's weak leadership'

NONE Although at first reluctant to attend the seminar, Abdul Aziz has confirmed his attendance to the seminar's organiser, PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub (left) .

When asked of his reluctance, Abdul Aziz replied, "I am not a party member. I am not involved in the tale (internal discord). This is not my doing."

The political analyst is confident that the seminar will be able to resolve the Islamic party's internal problems in the long run, despite certain quarters questioning the effectiveness of the program.

Repeating his criticism of Hadi's leadership, Abdul Aziz said that the PAS president "is only suitable to become the first mate, not the captain."

"The problem is with the idea that is being brought forward. It is like the flat earth theory. He is saying that the world is flat, but we cannot accept this, even if, visually, we see the world as flat. This is because his theory is wrong."

He added the ‘unity government' proposal that Hadi is trying to introduce doesn't make sense because it is impossible to have a government without an opposition.

"He should not talk of things which he doesn't know anything about. In England, after world war two, the various political parties had to come together to form the government because not one of them had the majority to form a party of their own."

"In Malaysia, the situation is very different," said Abdul Aziz.

Friction and internal discord

Contacted today, Abu Hassan said that the problem with PAS is caused by friction between the various schools of leadership, specifically between the "religious" and "liberal" groups and not only about institutional problems.

"The moderate leaders in PAS who emerged after the ‘reformasi' era circa 1998 are now hovering impatiently on the outskirts of PAS, while the ‘religious' leaders are still at the core of its leadership," he said.

Abu Hassan added, "The internal discord in PAS probably won't destroy the party, but it may weaken the party's machinery and management".

He believed that academicians like him are being invited to the seminar because PAS wants to hear some independent viewpoints.

In his working paper, he will not only touch on the issue of internal conflict but also, on whether the Islamic party's policies are still relevant to the future, he explained.

Abu Hassan will focus on three things:

1) PAS internal politics,

2) the party's position in Pakatan and

3) its acceptance by the public.