Former PAS information chief Mahfuz Omar has said he is enjoying himself with his free time four days after his defeat at the PAS leadership elections.

"I have been enjoying the past four days without my PAS position. I can relax and focus on Parliament and on my constituency.

 

“I am still the PAS division head for Pokok Sena and as its MP, I have to be focussed, especially since it is near Ramadhan," Mahfuz said when contacted by Malaysiakini Wednesday.

Mahfuz along with incumbent vice-presidents Husam Musa and Salahuddin Ayub were defeated by Idris Ahmad, Nik Amar Abdullah and Iskandar Abdul Samad at the party elections during the 61st PAS muktamar last week.

 

His removal came as the conservative faction in the party made a clean sweep of almost all the top positions at the expense of candidates from the progressives' camp.

 

Asked if he would accept a position in Persatuan Ummah Sejahtera (PasMa) if it were offered to him, he said simply, "I won't."

 

Coy about progressives meeting

 

The NGO is planning to meet this weekend to discuss the possibility of forming a new party following the outcome of last week’s muktamar.

 

Mahfuz also said he would first consider before attending any meeting with defeated incumbents from last week's muktamar.

 

"If I have other matters to attend to, we will have to see how it goes first," he said.

 

On Tuesday, former PAS vice-president Ahmad Awang announced his plan to have a meeting next week for all those who had lost in the recent PAS muktamar.

 

According to Ahmad, the meeting is so that they can plan their next steps.

 

He also hoped the meeting would encourage the defeated incumbents to work together for PAS instead of just individually.