KUALA LUMPUR: New Hope Movement (GHB) will take over the Workers Party, established in 1978, after its attempt to form a new party called Parti Progresif Islam was rejected by the Home Ministry.

GHB chief Mohamad Sabu said they would then change the name of the Workers Party to Parti Amanah Negara or PAN, which will be launched on Sept 16 in conjunction with Malaysia Day, with at least 35,000 members.

Accordingly, Mohamad Sabu said, from yesterday onwards GHB members are officially no longer PAS members.

He said the six elected PAS members of parliament, who were with GHB effectively, no longer represented PAS in Parliament.

“The name change and the new party name will be forwarded to the Registrar of Societies. We will launch the party on Sept 16,” he said at a press conference in the capital yesterday.

The GHB splinter movement, formed with the aim of starting a new political party, is led by PAS progressive leaders who were axed in the party’s fractious muktamar this year.

Mohamad Sabu, or Mat Sabu as he is popularly known, will serve as party chairman with Salahuddin Ayub as deputy. The central committee will include non-Muslims, one of them being former PAS supporters’ club chairman Hu Pang Chaw.

The party’s secretary-general will be Anuar Tahir, a former PAS central committee member. 

Mat Sabu also said registering the new name without the word Islam would not affect the party’s attempts to recruit members or its target group, which is largely the PAS audience.

“No, I don’t think it will have an impact. We have an inclusive nature that will draw support from both Muslims and non-Muslims.” — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in digitaledge Daily, on September 1, 2015.