In his office, nestled in a corner of the fifth floor of the Internal Security Ministry in Putrajaya, hangs a picture of Wan Farid Wan Salleh striding out in full Malay costume.

Walking alongside in the photograph is Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Umno Youth deputy head Khairy Jamaluddin, at what was certainly an Umno function.

Just five years ago, Wan Farid, who read law in the United Kingdom, was running a legal firm. He then entered politics and is now political secretary to Abdullah, in his capacity as internal security minister

One of Umno's fastest rising politicians, Wan Farid is said to be a leading candidate for the Terengganu menteri besar's post in time to come.

Blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin has described him as "gatekeeper" in the Prime Minister's Department, vetting appointments and letters before these reach the highest executive levels.

But in an interview with malaysiakini last week, Wan Farid attempted to dismiss all notions of his perceived influence.

Although he did not dismiss the possibility of being appointed a menteri besar one day, he revealed very little, preferring to concentrate on attacking opposition party PAS which has held Kelantan since 1999.

Excerpts from the interview follow.

Malaysiakini: How is the BN faring in Terengganu?

Wan Farid : I'm confident that, over a short period of four years, Umno and BN have succeeded in returning Terengganu to its former glory, not only in terms of building human resources but also in getting the people to appreciate cleanliness. Kuala Terengganu is far cleaner compared to the days when PAS formed the government.

There have been accusations that the government policy for the state has been too extravagant. Too many big projects.

We cannot develop if we are not prepared to spend. We can only keep silent, then the rakyat will accuse us of not doing anything.

Your schedule requires you to be in Kuala Lumpur. How do you go about meeting BN elected representatives?

My job requires that I constantly move about. I have a programme that allows me to meet the division chiefs during weekends, when there are many programmes.

You're said to be a candidate for the next menteri besar of Terengganu...

We must understand that in politics, we cannot be too ambitious. If that is what people say, I don't know (anything about it). We have to be aware that in the end, whatever happens is determined by Allah. We cannot hold too high an ambition. It is more important that the team running the state does a good job.

But many people have said...

I cannot stop people from talking, but I would prefer that they don't. (Everything will) depend on whether I can made a candidate. Even that is not a certainty. I have not thought that far yet.

What is PAS' future in Terengganu in the next general election?

The political strategy of BN and Umno Terengganu is what we call the 'blue ocean' strategy. In this is a kind of thinking, we make our competitors irrelevant. There is no head-on collision. The strategy assumes that PAS is not relevant. We don't pre-plan anything.

A conspiracy theory and the 'blue ocean' strategy are not the same. We don't want to fight PAS because PAS is not relevant. Whoever is angry, (PAS election director) Mustafa Ali or anyone else, to us they are negligible. There is no need to make them relevant by attacking them.

How has PAS made itself irrelevant?

The issues they raise no longer coincide with the current political scenario. They change their minds all the time. At one time they needed the Islamic state, saying 'we cannot compromise on that'. Then they put it aside when they want to co-operate with the other parties. It is not the specific ideal that they are pursuing. They pursue anything for their political interests.

But PAS has been around for quite a while. Couldn't they rise again?

If they continue to remain irrelevant, then they cannot rise again.

Do you expect PAS support to weaken?

When a party is relevant, its idealism can be shared by the people. Umno is not just a party (which defends the interests of) its members are defended - the Malays and bumiputeras. Umno also represent other races.

But PAS' idealism changes from time to time. They change their friends and allies from time to time. So we don't know what PAS is really doing. Today they speak about Islamic state. Tomorrow they speak of compromise, setting aside the Islamic state and saying 'we want to make friends with certain people'.

Mustafa Ali ( photo ), interviewed on BBC's Hardtalk by Tim Sebastian in 2003, said the Islamic state was a creation of the media in order to disassociated people with PAS. How can we trust people like this? Today they say something, tomorrow they say something else.

The Islamic state was part of the PAS campaign strategy in Terengganu, Perlis, Kedah and Kelantan. In other states, PAS has promotes welfare. You're saying this is a contradiction.

Yes. We are lucky they are not administering the country, otherwise we will all feel it. One policy for states where the majority are Muslims, and another policy for states with a mixed majority.

What is their policy exactly? Can we take PAS seriously when they do this? No way. BN's policy in Sarawak or Sabah or Johor or Negeri Sembilan or in Terengganu is the same. Consistency is proof that we are sincere in our intention to make Malaysia successful with one policy, not two or three.

Tomorrow: On his relationship with Khairy Jamaluddin

Part 1: Wan Farid to PAS: I don't dignify rubbish

Watch the seven-minute video here.