The PAS leadership was today urged to consider a proposal for the party to accept non-Muslims as associate members in order to foster better relations with other communities in this country.

The proposal was raised by Kelantan delegate Nik Mohd Amar, and supported by Terengganu delegate Nawawi Saleh, during the debate on the president's speech at the party's 48th annual general assembly in Kota Bahru.

The duo expressed hope that the proposal would become a reality, but if the idea was shot down, they urged the party to at least provide an alternative channel which would enable non-Muslims to view the party not as an enemy.

Nawawi said the leadership must provide the widest possible scope to allow non-Muslims to understand the party up close.

Meanwhile, Johor delegate Mazlan Aliman criticised several PAS leaders who refused invitations to speak in ceramah (political talks) in the southern state on the excuse that police permits could not be obtained.

According to him, among those who refused to come were several PAS MPs, who said "it would be difficult to take care of their constituencies if they were arrested."

This attitude, Mazlan added, was disappointing for PAS members in Johor who are prepared to champion the party's cause even if it lands them in jail.

The Johor delegate also slammed the party's information committee for failing to pounce on current issues which could benefit the party.

He cited the Tabung Haji scandal as an example, claiming the issue could have been used to attract sympathy for the opposition.

In view of this, he suggested that the information committee set up a special body to handle such current issues.

"One of the main reasons why PAS captured Kelantan and Terengganu is because of the intensive information campaigns that captured the hearts of the people," he stressed.

Harakah slammed

Mazlan also took a swipe at the party organ, Harakah, saying the publication was appearing more like the mainstream media.

He said the organ has published news which were detrimental to PAS and provided ammunition to its adversaries.

As an example, he cited the article penned by PRM deputy president Rustam Sani which praised Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's speech during a recent talk on the Palestine issue.

"On the other hand, Rustam described PAS president Fadzil Mohd Noor's speech at the talk as 'merely recounting history'," lamented Mazlan.

In another development, PAS Youth delegate Misbahul Munir Masduk reminded the party leadership to exercise caution when making statements to the press in order to avoid any negative repercussions.

Misbahul said he did not agree with the leadership's action in welcoming the meeting between Mahathir and Pope John Paul II scheduled for next week.

"While on certain issues, we support the statement made by the leadership but at the same time we must careful that it is not distorted by our political enemies," he stressed.

The Youth delegate's view was supported by Kedah delegate, Muhamad Muslim, who asked the leadership to keep the central committee up to speed on issues which affect the interest of the party.

Muhamad said he learnt that the PAS president had agreed to participate in the Palestine talk with Mahathir before the central committee was informed.

Coming to Fadzil's rescue was Perak delegate, Zulkarnian Hassan, who urged party members to adopt a more open-minded attitude over the matter.

He believed that in the long run the issue would be beneficial to the party in winning the hearts of the people.