Today is the nation's 51st Malaysia Day celebration. It is a public holiday. Today is also the start of the Pas' 60th AGM. I wrote about it in
All eyes will be on this congress. Let's watch what happens.
Meanwhile, NST's political editor Shahrum Sayuthi writes on the matter
In the NST online edition today
JOHOR BARU: The Pas’ 60th muktamar (annual general assembly), set to be held in Parit Salleh Ros in Parit Raja, Batu Pahat from Thursday till Saturday had an earlier than scheduled curtain raiser when its youth wing decided to start its meeting today.
Pas Youth was initially to have just a day meeting on Wednesday, but the plan was changed in the final hours.
“We have a lot to discuss at our meeting,” said a source within the party’s wing without elaborating when asked about the need to have more time for their meeting.
It was nonetheless understood that Pas Youth leaders had decided that they needed additional time to conduct their meeting due to the latest development in the Selangor leadership crisis which had seriously damaged relations not only between Pas and its Pakatan allies but also among the factions who made up the party’s own leadership.
The party’s youth wing leadership was said to be equally divided between the religious and so called “progressive” factions who opposed each other over the issue of whether Pas should stand united with its Pakatan allies at all costs or give priority to defending its own Islamic ideals.
The Pas Youth meeting was to be held at Dewan Choon Moi, Kota Tinggi starting at 12.30pm today.
The party’s religious leadership body, known as Dewan Ulama and the party’s women wing, better known as Dewan Muslimat will start their meeting as scheduled on Wednesday at 9am.
The Dewan Ulama meeting will be at the IOI Resort in Kulaijaya, while the Dewan Muslimat’s to be at Pulai Spring Resort, here.
It was expected that both the Dewan Ulama and the women wing will reiterate their support for party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang who recently broke rank with his PKR and DAP counterparts by nominating three candidates for the MB post as decreed by the Selangor Sultan, instead of just PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
Hadi was heavily criticised for his decision not only by PKR and DAP leaders but also the faction within Pas known to be supportive of PKR de-facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Pas muktamar is held in Johor for the first time this year with the initial aim of creating a better presence for the party in this state which has always been known as an Umno’s stronghold.
Pas had in the last two general elections made some inroad in Johor, winning the State seats of Maharani and Sungai along in 2008, and adding two more, Parit Yaani and Puteri Wangsa last year.
Observers however had predicted that the muktamar will instead be dominated by heated discussions on the party’s problems stemming from the Selangor leadership crisis which had split Pas into factions which on one side is supportive of the party’s own ideals and the other who insisted on the importance of relations with PKR and DAP above all else.
The organising of the muktamar has been problematic from the start when the organizer had to abandoned its original plan of holding it at Taman Sutera Utama in Skudai, here after a disagreement with the landowner forced the party to switch the venue to the one in Batu Pahat.
It is also interesting to note that the muktamar is being held during the campaigning period for the Pengkalan Kubor by-election, where PAS candidate Wan Rosdi Wan Ibrahim is facing a three-cornered fight in the by-election against Barisan Nasional's Mat Razi Mat Ail and independent candidate Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary.
The voting for the by-election is scheduled for September 25.
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