KOTA BHARU, Malaysia, June 2, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Leaders of Malaysia's opposition Islamic party (PAS) are meeting this week to re-brand themselves and woo back voters amid strong criticism from the party’s Youth wing accusing their leaders of being carried away by wealth, elitism, egoism and arrogance.

Some 1,000 party delegates have gathered in the Muslim heartland of northeastern Kelantan state for five days of debate culminating in elections Sunday, June5, that could usher in a new generation of leaders, Agence France-Press (AFP) reported Thursday, June 2.

During this week's annual gathering, delegates will have a chance to elect a new leadership from the ranks of young professional moderates, or maintain the old order of elderly "scholars with fundamentalist ideas", AFP said.

"The focus of this gathering is to identify changes that are needed for the party. It is not just about a leadership challenge by the young. It is about the image of PAS. We need to re-brand the party," said central committee member Mahfuz Omar.

"It is about how people, both Muslims and non-Muslims, view PAS. We must prepare to make a comeback in the next polls, maybe in 2008," he told AFP.

Mahfuz, a progressive former lawmaker and youth wing chief, is gunning for one of the three vice-president posts as are woman candidate Siti Mariah Mahmud, a medical doctor, and several others.

“I think the time has come for the leaders to come back to the teachings of Islam,” Ayob said.

The restructure meeting comes as PAS Youth wing has hit out at certain party leaders, calling on leaders to reinvent the party and warning that if the situation persisted, PAS would suffer from money politics, character assassination and pitting the conservatives against the moderates, The Star Online reported Thursday.

Youth chief Salahuddin Ayob said these leaders had become too comfortable with their chauffeurs and expensive cars, sporting branded clothes, building palatial homes and staying in expensive hotels.

Salahuddin, speaking at the opening of the wing's muktamar (conference), said some of these leaders had lost sight of the abject poverty suffered by farmers, fishermen and settlers.

However, he did not say who these leaders were, the paper said.

“I have no choice but to raise this because it has become one of the biggest threats to the party, causing the party to forget about the people and their plight.

“Some party leaders are beginning to love the materialistic world and may have fallen into such traps. I think the time has come for the leaders to come back to the teachings of Islam and the fundamentals of the religion to enable us to concentrate on the people’s plight and revive the original inception of PAS,” he said Wednesday.

“PAS used to condemn Umno and Barisan Nasional politicians who led a lavish life and forgot about the peoples' welfare.

“However, Barisan and Um-no realized their mistake and have gone down to the people, sleeping in their houses, spending time at the surau, and driving Malaysian-made cars.”

He concluded that these issues needed to be tackled swiftly otherwise it could spread like cancer and destroy the party.

As a part of restructure, Malaysian Deputy President Senator Hassan Shukri said PAS should consider opening its membership to non-Muslims as part of efforts to re-engineer itself from an ulama-based party to one that is more relevant to the country, the Star said.

He said although the idea was not new, the party should discuss this during its upcoming 51st Muktamar as part of proposed amendments to the party constitution.

The proposed amendments were to strengthen the party and fine-tune its general election machinery, and as such the party must accept input from professionals including possible non-Muslim members, he told reporters after opening the PAS Youth 46th Muktamar at a hotel Wednesday.

Hassan also called for a new general election system similar to Indonesia, saying if it were adopted, PAS would have won more seats in the last election.

He added that irrespective of a general election, the party’s Islamic movement must continue to grow and be strengthened.

PAS leaders have famously said that a vote for the party ensures a place in heaven, but the rhetoric did not help in last year's general elections when it suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the ruling coalition which promotes a moderate version of Islam, AFP said.

Under the leadership of Abdul Hadi Awang, PAS lost power in the neighboring state of Terengganu but kept its hold on Kelantan with a slim majority. Its presence in parliament dipped to five seats from 27.

Syed Hamid Albar, foreign minister and UMNO Supreme Council member, said Muslims subscribe to the idea of going to heaven but not through PAS.

"Going to heaven is part of our spiritual belief but we need not be a PAS member to go to heaven. PAS politically is bankrupt. They do not have anything to offer," he said.