Both the PAS central leadership and its Selangor chapter will help PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim in his bid to capture the Kajang state seat in the upcoming by-election.

In a statement, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said election director Mohd Hatta Ramli will spearhead the party machinery.

As to the party’s position on the post of Selangor menteri besar, he would only say: "Let me reiterate that the issue ... does not arise."

The statement was issued after he chaired the party's political bureau meeting last night.

In an immediate reaction on the vacancy, Selangor PAS Youth had urged a boycott and suggested that state PAS commissioner Iskandar Abdul Samad be named as the new MB.

PAS and DAP each hold 15 state seats compared to PKR, which now has 13 following the vacancy in Kajang.

Abdul Hadi also said he deplores the Bangladeshi war crimes tribunal's decision to impose the death sentence on former Agriculture and Industrial minister Maulana Matiur Rahman Nizami.

He said Matiur Rahman, also the leader of the Jamaat Islami Bangladesh. did not get a fair trial. 

"The tribunal should not be a political tool to punish dissidents against the present government, as the government should listen to the legal and international human rights criticism," he added.