PAS is more than willing to open its doors to Abdul Rahman Othman, the former PKR treasurer who has quit the opposition party.

"Generally, we will be happy (if Abdul Rahman joins PAS)," said PAS secretary-general Kamaruddin Jaffar (left) today when asked to comment on Abdul Rahman's application to join the party.

However, he said he has not been officially informed of this as the application has yet to reach the party headquarters.

Asked if he viewed the spate of resignations from PKR as a sign of protest, he replied: "Maybe, but we don't interfere in their decisions, whether it is a personal one or due to the party."

He also pointed out that the movement was "not one way."

Explaining, he said: "They still operate at the opposition level. Like (PAS member) Saifuddin Nasution Ismail who holds a position in PKR. This (PKR members joining PAS) is not strictly a one way movement."

PAS and PKR are allies in the opposition front, Barisan Alternatif.

Yesterday, Abdul Rahman told malaysiakini that he had quit PKR and applied to join the PAS Subang Jaya branch.

However, he refused to elaborate on the reason behind this decision.

During last month's PKR elections, Abdul Rahman was nominated for party presidency but pulled out at the eleventh hour after another candidate, party adviser Anwar Ibrahim withdrew.

This paved the way for incumbent president and Anwar's wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to retain the post uncontested.

In the run-up to the election, Abdul Rahman, who joined the party since its inception in 1999, had been vocal about numerous party affairs, including the elections.

'Part and parcel of politics'

Meanwhile, PKR secretary-general Khalid Ibrahim said he has not been informed of Abdul Rahman's decision but added that such developments are "part and parcel" of politics."

"He is an individual and he has the right to join or quit the party," he said when contacted.

Responding to this, Abdul Rahman said today that he did not tender an official letter to quit the party.

According to him, the PKR constitution states that any member who joins another party will have his/her membership nullified.

Abdul Rahman continued to remain tightlipped over the reason for his sudden decision. "That issue is already over," he said.

He also clarified that he was no longer the PKR Muar division chief as reported as he did not seek re-election during the divisional meeting prior to the PKR national congress.

As for his relations with the PKR leadership, he said: "It's okay, we are still in BA and we are of the objective to foster a strong working relationship to face Barisan Nasional in the next elections."

On whether he has any plans to contest in the general elections under a PAS ticket, Abdul Rahman said he will leave that decision to the party leadership.

In the previous polls, he lost to Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor for the Putrajaya parliamentary seat.

Regarding his decision to join PAS, Abdul Rahman said he made the decision on Wednesday and had also consulted his supporters.

However, he stressed that he did not ask his supporters in PKR to follow him. "They will make their own decision," he added.

Abdul Rahman also quipped that now PKR members can 'bid' for his unique membership number '003', which comes after Anwar's '001' and Wan Azizah's '002'.