PAS leaders are giving confusing signals on whether or not the party will sever ties with its Pakatan Rakyat coalition partner, DAP.

Former PAS central committee member Dr Hatta Ramli said today saome had said during the party's recent muktamar that PAS was still in Pakatan, while others said the party should cut off ties with DAP.

Therefore, the onus was on the new PAS leadership to give a clear answer on the matter.

"The signals are very confusing, so I suggest the new leadership line-up come up with a proper answer," Hatta told reporters at the DAP headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

Hatta, meanwhile, said the party leadership should be mindful that any action taken should be considerate of the feelings of the other two parties.

"Mind you, we are not acting on our own, we have other parties: PKR and DAP," he said.

Asked whether the decision to revoke its plan to sever ties with the DAP would harm PAS, Hatta said he believes there were ways to ensure that any action taken by the leadership would not affect the trust of the people.

"I have a feeling that the current leadership will be able to handle that," he said.

Hatta also showed that he is on the same wavelength with former deputy president Mohamad Sabu, who said that several leaders in the party had criticised the DAP to garner votes in the party election.

"Mohamad Sabu's feelings are the same as mine. I have the same feeling because the progressive group was rejected as we were seen as being too close to DAP, that we gave too much concern to Pakatan.

"This was seen as not going along with the party, so they disposed of us," he said.

As to whether those purged from the party should join PKR, Hatta believes that they should not dwell on the idea at the moment.

"We just had our AGM (muktamar) and there were some serious issues arising.

'We should take things calmly'

"So, we should be taking things rather calmly and not make any decision that may disrupt the party as a whole," Hatta said, admitting that many PAS members were not happy with the current situation.

"As responsible leaders, although we are out of the line-up, we should concentrate on our original effort to strengthen Pakatan," he said.

Hatta added the PAS leaders should persist in strengthening the party as the people had given trust to Pakatan.

The recent PAS muktamar saw the progressive faction purged from the party, save for only one central working committee member, Mazlan Aliman.

However, Mazlan is contemplating resigning from his post.

PAS' ties with DAP continue to sour, and the Syura Council's decision on the Dewan Ulama's motion for the party to sever its ties with DAP will determine the future of these two parties in Pakatan.