KUALA TERENGGANU: PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang today stressed that the party should not be confined to any closed coalition and just be a passenger in the country's political journey.

Instead, he said the party should be a strong co-leader in the coalition in order to gain support from the people.

"To gain strong support in upholding the concept of principled Islamic leadership, it is mandatory for PAS to strive to at least be a key factor in determining victory in the 15th General Election (GE15) based on the number of seats it won, not the number of seats it contested but lost," he said in his policy speech at the party's 67th Annual Muktamar (Assembly) held in a hybrid manner here today.

Abdul Hadi said Muafakat Nasional (MN) made its debut in the country's political landscape with only PAS and UMNO in it before they agreed to include Bersatu which eventually led to the formation of Perikatan Nasional (PN) with other parties representing various religions and races that succeeded in taking over the country's administration.

He said the participation in the coalition was open to all parties that did not deviate from the Federal Constitution, and that was the model of national unity it wanted to introduce to all.

"Therefore, we reject any attempt to form a new alignment with various brands or proposed changes. Strictly speaking, we established MN as an introduction in accordance with the original, complete, open, and not closed, Charter.

"We also managed to establish a more open and strong PN, which succeeded in taking over the Federal Government. Just like growing a plant from seeds, any other proposal is like weeds that must be removed or pests that must be destroyed," he said.

Abdul Hadi said PAS also needed to be consistent in presenting an honest and clean political approach to revive the country.

"What good does it make when getting majority support but have no integrity and started everything with a lie to get that support?

"Telling lies is enough to show that the person has lost his integrity, and it will lead him to other bad behaviours, including being a kleptocrat," he said.

Meanwhile, Abdul Hadi said the party's Muktamar this year was the most significant and probably the last before the GE15, hence should be the platform to pledge their support to retain the power of the federal government and the PAS-led state government, as well as to increase the number of its seats in other states.

On PAS candidates for the GE15, he said the party would definitely field strong and credible candidates with integrity, good moral values and Islamic backgrounds, and loyal to the party.

-- BERNAMA