Malaysia's Islamists row over cooperation with govt

By Razak Ahmad

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A rift in Malaysia's opposition Islamist party deepened after its influential spiritual leader called for the party to vote on changing the leadership.

"I strongly feel that there needs to be a change in the major players in the party leadership," said Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, the spiritual leader of the Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), in a blog posting on Friday.

Nik Aziz wants his party firmly in the opposition, but party president Abdul Hadi Awang is in favour of cooperating with the government.

Both leaders control major chunks of the party's nearly one million members and a vote at a party extraordinary general meeting could split PAS, and weaken an opposition coalition led by Anwar Ibrahim.

"I would not underrate the severity of this problem which has now been pushed right to the forefront," said Kamaruddin Jaafar, a member of PAS' central committee.

A proposal to cooperate was first discussed between government and senior PAS leaders, including Abdul Hadi, following last year's elections, which saw the ruling National Front coalition suffer its worst defeat in over 50 years of rule.

The three-party opposition People's Alliance that includes PAS denied the government its two-thirds majority in parliament, driven by Anwar's mass appeal and voter unhappiness over increasing corruption in government and unfulfilled reform pledges. The Alliance also won control of five of 13 states.

PAS, the second largest party in Malaysia in terms of membership next to the ruling coalition's lynchpin, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), governs two Malay-majority states, Kedah and Kelantan.