The movement to topple the PAS president detected from 1998

The movement to topple PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang by certain groups in the party was detected from 1998.

PAS Research Centre Chief Operation Officer Dr Mohd Zuhdi Marsuki, who disclosed this, said PAS became so open in 1998 and this resulted in the entries of many groups who subsequently formed factions in PAS.

"There was no team culture in PAS prior to 1998 but it emerged after that and it is now becoming cancerous," he told reporters after becoming a panelist on Academic Discourse: PAS: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow at Pengkalan Chepa here, Friday night.

Asked on PAS' action to solve the issue, Mohd Zuhdi believed that the groups (not mentioning the names of the groups and those involved) would eventually leave PAS to form a new party.

"I'm confident after the 2015 PAS General Assembly, two groups would emerge, whereby one would break away from PAS and form a new party, a solution which will bring back harmony in PAS," he said.

On other challenges being faced by PAS, he said PAS was currently facing the true face of DAP, its partner in the opposition pact, especially in opposing the implementation of hudud in Kelantan.

"We (PAS) must face the challenge with an open mind and we still see there is room to strengthen our ties with DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat, but with the hope that DAP and PKR understand the chronology in the formation of the Malaysian society and nation," he added.