KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — PAS’s defeated professional faction today launched a new movement dubbed “Gerakan Harapan Baru” that they plan to later register as a political party.

The movement is aimed at all races and religions, as demonstrated by its tagline of “Rahmat untuk semua” (“Mercy for all”).

“Harapan Baru carries the concept of Islam that perfectly matches with a concept that is inclusive, progressive and one that truly cares about the people,” the movement’s chairman Mohamad Sabu or Mat Sabu said in a press conference at the Vistana Hotel here, today.

“We are committed to bring the real offerings of Islam — Mercy for All — in defending and fighting for justice for all Malaysians,” he said, adding that the new movement will stress on issues of morality and issues of corruption and leakages in Barisan Nasional’s administration of Putrajaya.

Mat Sabu said while the movement was supportive of hudud, the Islamic penal law that was the cause of a breakdown in the opposition Pakatan Rakyat pact, it will pursue this goal democratically.

He added that the movement will go on a nationwide tour from now until August to convey to the public its goals.

“We call upon all to join the movement and relive the legacy of former esteemed PAS leaders such as the late Yusof Rawa, the late Fadhil Mohd Noor as well as the late Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, and to make the effort o form Pakatan 2.0 a success,” he added.

Other personalities in the movement include PAS members such as Parit Buntar MP Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa, former Kuala Selangor MP Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad and others who were defeated in the Islamist party’s polls recently.

The new movement is a further step towards the formation of a substitute party to PAS.