PAS will not create a consultative council - made up of Muslim clerics - to run the country if it is given the mandate to form the government, said its secretary-general Nasharuddin Mat Isa today.

He said the party has no intention of changing the principles of democracy in the Federal Constitution as alleged by those who are unclear of its policies and stand.

The consultative council - known as Syura - is commonly found in Islamic states.

"The Syura has no governing role in the party. It is there to guide the party in the decision making of party policies.

"So if it does not have a governing role, there is no reason why we would want to extend this outside the party," he said at a press conference to announce the PAS Muktamar which will be held between Sept 10 and 14.

Non-Muslims concerned

The party's aim to set up an Islamic state drew flak from many quarters who claimed that such a move may be uncontitutional. The party's ally during the 1999 general election DAP quit the opposition front in 2001 due to differences of idealogy on this matter.

Stressing that the party respected the constitution and the civil rights enshrined in it, Nasharuddin said PAS has been adhering to the constitution and does not plan to stray away from that.

"We know that there are people, especially non-Muslims who are concerned about this issue..they are asking if the PAS government will be led by the ulamas (religious scholars). No, we don't intend to do that.

"Yes, we want to win, we want to form a government but we will only do it according to the process of democracy as stated in the constitution. For the non-Muslims, their rights will remain. There will be Islamic criminal laws, but as we have repeatedly explained, it is only applicable for the Muslims," he said.

Asked about the memorandum on Islamic governance to be given to their Barisan Alternatif ally, Nasharuddin said the party was still studying the document.

"We have nothing to hide but certain media often make false accusations against us to scare the non Muslims...so we want to be sure that the memorandum will clear any confusion about our intention and policies...we will release it in due time," he said.

Committees established

He also said that PAS was making efforts to counter the 'false' reports about them and has established three committees to help it win the confidence of non-Muslims.

"There seems to be a gap between PAS and the non-Muslims. We want to close the gap...so we set up the Inter-Cultural Affairs Committee (Jaya) which has been holding ceramah and dialogues with non-Muslims.

"We also have the PAS image development committee (Jati) where similar programmes are held to properly explain to the people our policies while another committee will collect all the concerns of non-Muslims so that it can be addressed by Jati and Jaya," he said.

He said the party's top leadership like acting president Abdul Hadi Awang and spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat have been attending dialogues and the response has been positive so far.

"Through these committees we also distribute booklets and video compact disc (VCD) which explains our policies. We don't hope for a quick change, but we believe that these efforts have closed the gap a little," he said.

Asked if the public dance and singing ban in the PAS-led Terengganu government will weaken the committees' efforts, he said the issue was exaggerated by the Umno-influenced media based on misleading statements by the Barisan Nasional components in the state.

"The policy was made based on the fact that the majority population there are Muslims whose rights deserve respect too. But they still can go on singing and dancing...but at the comfort of their own homes or premises," he said.

As for PAS' chances in the coming general election, Nasharuddin said victory will not be easy considering the various amendments made to the delineation and election rules.

"But all these efforts to make things difficult show that we are strong. But I believe the ruling government had underestimated the maturity of Malaysian voters as our mindset has changed since 1957," he said.

"We believe we can increase our seats, continue ruling Terengganu and Kelantan, and there is a big chance to add Kedah to our fold as well."