PAS is non-committal on whether Anwar Ibrahim should be made prime minister in the event Pakatan Rakyat takes over the federal government.

pas muktamar 54th ipoh stadium opening day 150808 14 Despite being repeatedly quizzed by reporters, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang refused to state if PAS would endorse Anwar - a self proclaimed prime minister-in-waiting - for the nation's top job.

"Wait for him to win first and see if there are changes in Parliament. After that we will discuss. We will see who is acceptable to the plural society," said Hadi, in reference to the Aug 26 Permatang Pauh by-election which Anwar will be contesting.

pas muktamar 54th ipoh stadium opening day 150808 11 Speaking at a press conference at the sidelines of the PAS 54th annual assembly in Ipoh today, Hadi said discussions on a possible prime minister would only arise in the event Pakatan came to power.

Cracks in the relationship between PAS and Anwar has been increasingly obvious of late following the Islamic party's clandestine meetings with Umno after the March 8 general election.

On Sunday, Hadi had also reportedly voiced the party's displeasure with Pakatan at the Penang PAS convention and hinted that PAS would leave the coalition should their demands be ignored.

Does Hadi want to be PM?

Quizzed about his speech in Penang, Hadi denied he had threatened to pull PAS out of Pakatan and instead meant that the party wanted to be part of a government which is rooted by Malay-Muslims.

"This is accepted by all parties, including Barisan Nasional component parties, which accepts a Malay as their leader.

pas muktamar 54th ipoh stadium opening day 150808 01 "If there is a change (in the federal government) this would be accepted by all parties including the DAP and other Pakatan members. The core has to be Malay-Muslims,"" he said.

Hadi also skirted a question on PAS Dewan Ulama's position that the he was more qualified to be prime minister than Anwar.

He also refused to divulge if he harboured any intentions of becoming the prime minister.

"My ambition is to have Islam provide justice to the people. It doesn't matter who becomes the prime minister," he replied.

Anwar unperturbed

Incidently, Anwar and his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail had attended the opening ceremony of the PAS muktamar and sat through Abdul Hadi's policy speech.

pas muktamar 54th ipoh stadium opening day 150808 16 When cornered by a horde of reporters after Abdul Hadi's speech, Anwar said it was understandable that staunch PAS supporters want their party leaders to be made the country''s leaders.

"It is not an ultimatum. It was a view that had been expressed," said Anwar, adding that the room for discussion remains.

After speaking to reporters for about four minutes, Anwar was whisked away to Permatang Pauh.