Amid the tussle over the hudud issue which threatens to demolish Pakatan Rakyat, a PAS leader has warned his party not to repeat the 2004 mistakes.

Central committee member Dzulkefly Ahmad pointed out that the errors then were the infighting in PAS and its push for an Islamic state without giving proper explanation.

He said the party thought this would generate support from the Malay Muslims without realising that in 1999, the rise in support for PAS was due to external factors following the Malay tsunami in rejecting Umno and BN after Anwar Ibrahim was sacked as deputy prime minister.

Dzulkefly said as a result of PAS forgetting its "known strength", the party was punished in the 11th general election in 2004, where out of the 27 parliamentary seats it won in 1999, it maintained only six.

Hence, he warned that a similar scenario could happen in the next polls.

He said in 2008 and 2013, the Islamist party made inroads in places previously it could not.

"PAS never made inroads in states like Perak, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, and Johor.

“However, they have managed to do so in 2008 and 2013. PAS is gaining strength but we should not make the same mistake as in 2004.

"If PAS remains in the opposition front of Pakatan, it could win 34 Parliament seats, an increase from the 21 seats which it holds currently, in the next general election," he added.

However, Dzulkefly, who is also the executive director of PAS think-tank, warned that current developments in the party might place the party in a retrogressive mode.

Among his main concerns, Dzulkefly said, are suggestions among the grassroots and some quarters of the PAS leadership that PAS contest individually and leave Pakatan.

"It is certainly unwise to propose such a scenario as this only shows they are merely interested in clutching power in (peninsular) states up north and the east coast," he said.

Be wary of the enemy

On the issue of hudud, Dzulkefly reminded what the late PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and former president, the late Fadzil Noor, had always cautioned, which is to be suspicious of the enemy to ensure PAS is not bitten twice.

"An enemy (Umno) is still an enemy, although they seem 'sincere' (in supporting hudud)," he said.

He further cautioned that if PAS loses the plot, the support that it gained from Malay Muslims in cities and urban areas may be lost, and the trust the party gained from non-Muslims during the 2008 and 2013 elections could also disappear.

This, he further warned, would result in PAS failing and bringing destruction to Pakatan.

"May Allah forbid this. Every time that PAS felt the party and its machinery are strong, Allah has given a stern lesson to make us realise.

"After winning big in 1999 by winning 27 parliamentary seats, the party fell and lost Terengganu in 2004. In Kelantan, we held by a razor thin one-seat majority," he said.