PAS’ Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat say today he would be happy if he were not re-elected as PAS’ mursyidul am (spiritual leader), saying his health was proving to be a deterrent in discharging his duties.

pas information meeting 090110 nik aziz The 79-year-old menteri besar of Kelantan said there were many candidates in PAS who were qualified to replace him and it was not right to say that he was the only one eligible to hold the post.

“I will be happy if I am not re-elected (as the PAS spiritual leader)," he was quoted by Bernama as saying today in Kota Baharu.

Nik Aziz ( right ) said this when asked to comment on a recent news portal report that the first meeting of the new session of the Majlis Syura Ulama PAS (consultative council of religious scholars) would elect the party's spiritual leader to chair the council.

Several days later, the portal reported there would be no election of the spiritual leader and that five additional members would be appointed to the council.

Nik Aziz referred to his poor record of attendance at programmes outside Kelantan, including meetings of the consultative council of religious scholars, and said he was represented many times by Harun Din.

"My attendance record is bad and there may arise talk that it will be better to have a healthier person in the post," he said.

Asked whether he would continue to hold the post if he was re-elected, Nik Aziz said: "If I am re-elected, I will accept the position, but I will have difficulty attending meetings."

Nik Aziz also declined to name a suitable candidate to replace him, saying: "How can I announce it in public? Maybe in private."

Support for Rukun Negara change

The Kelantan menteri besar welcomed a suggestion by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang for the first principle of the Rukun Negara (National Ideology) to be changed from "Believe in God" to "Believe in Allah".

On the disclosure by Kulim-Bandar Baharu independent Member of Parliament Zulkifli Nordin that a third party had offered him a huge sum of money to implicate Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor in the murder of Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu, Nik Aziz said Zulkifli should have lodged a police report and not make a disclosure.

"If I had known about such a matter, I would have made a police report and allowed the police to conduct an investigation," he said.

On the "Jom Heboh" entertainment carnival going on at the Sultan Muhammed IV Stadium here, Nik Aziz said it showed that the Kelantan government did not reject carnivals and entertainment shows, so long as they adhered to Islamic norms.