SHAH ALAM, Nov 24 — A Selangor PKR delegate pleaded today for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to take a firm stand and lead the opposition party in an official capacity rather than the de facto status he enjoys now as adviser.

Amirudin Shaari, a PKR delegate from Selangor, said there was a need to ensure clarity in the party’s leadership structure, indicating that it was time for Anwar to take up an elected position in the party.

“I ask Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the leader that will be the prime minister of Malaysia, to lead the party officially,” Amirudin said to loud claps of approval from the 800-odd delegates present at PKR’s special congress here.

It is unclear what Amirudin meant by his call for Anwar to officially lead the party, with the former deputy prime minister’s wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail currently helming the party.

Wan Azizah has held the post of party president since PKR was formed in 1999.

Amirudin had recounted how Anwar — a former Umno leader — was only able to lead the party in spirit when he was imprisoned in 1999.

Although Anwar was later released from prison, the Registrar of Societies (RoS) had barred him from officially holding positions in the party, Amirudin said.

The oral proposal for Anwar to officially lead PKR was not part of the amendments voted on by delegates today. A list of proposed changes to the PKR constitution was unanimously agreed on by the party delegates this afternoon, with the amendments to take effect after the Registrar of Societies (RoS) gives its approval.