PETALING JAYA, 28 May 2009: The PAS Supporters Club will not be promoted to a wing at the party muktamar (general assembly) which starts on 5 June.

Instead, the matter is likely to be decided at an emergency assembly to be held later this year. If PAS admits the club as a dewan or wing, it would be the first Islamist party in the world to grant membership to non-Muslims.

The 50,000-strong club, which started in 2004, has been pushing for admission into the party. This was agreed to in principle at a PAS retreat in November 2008, and was to be raised as a motion in the coming muktamar.

However, club president and co-founder Hu Pang Chaw says that the committee formed by the party leadership to study the matter was only set up in April, too short a time ago to consider the technicalities involved.

These include the question of full or associate membership in PAS, voting rights and rights to representation in the central working committee.

Visit The Nut Graph to read the rest of the story.