PAS leaders to meet over Opposition Leader’s post

(Bernama) – PAS will hold a special meeting of its top leaders in three or four days to discuss the appointment of a parliamentary Opposition Leader now that Anwar Ibrahim has been unseated by virtue of his conviction for sodomy.

Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, political secretary to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, said the meeting was also likely to discuss how the Pakatan Rakyat could be strengthened to carry on with its political struggle.

The Federal Court yesterday dismissed Anwar’s appeal against a Court of Appeal decision convicting him of having sodomised a former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, and upheld the five-year jail sentence imposed on him by the lower court.

The conviction disqualifies Anwar, the de facto PKR leader, as the MP for Permatang Pauh, thus unseating him as the Opposition Leader. PR has 87 seats in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat, with DAP occupying 37; PKR, 29 and PAS, 21.

Dr Ahmad Samsuri spoke to reporters after a media charity dinner also attended by Abdul Hadi at a restaurant in Tok Jembal here last night.

Abdul Hadi delivered a short speech at the dinner attended by about 200 people, without touching on political issues and Anwar’s conviction. He also declined to speak to reporters.