In Ipoh
DESPITE criticisms by its youth wing members to be wary of opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim, PAS chiefs gave two strong signals today to its members that they are in support of him.
Signal One: At the official opening of the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) annual assembly, Datuk Seri Anwar and his wife Dr Wan Azizah Ismail, were given pride of place on the main stage.
They were seated on the front row beside the two most senior clerics in the Islamic party - spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat and party president Abdul Hadi Awang.
Beside them were a number of other foreign guests from Islamic organisations abroad.
Behind Mr Anwar and his eye-doctor wife were the PAS central committee chiefs.
Signal Two: Tomorrow, when Mr Anwar submits his nomination papers for the Penang by-election, he will be accompanied by Datuk Nik Aziz the spiritual leader and two of the three PAS vice-presidents, Husam Musa and Muhammad Sabu.
It means that despite the criticisms from the Youth wing leaders, the central leadership has signalled that they still want Mr Anwar to lead them.
But it is also to be noted that Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi, at a press conference later, refused to answer if Mr Anwar would get PAS backing to become Prime Minister. The other candidate, put up by PAS, is Mr Abdul Hadi himself.