KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 — Long-serving PAS Supporters Congress chairman Hu Pang Chow was given the boot by the Islamist party on Monday with no reason cited.

Hu, who has served as the wing's chair for more than a decade, said he was unaware of his removal from the post.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang announced on party paper, Harakahdaily, two days ago that Hu has been replaced with the wing's deputy N Balasubramaniam.

Three of the wing's state chiefs were also replaced, and PAS vice-president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man was appointed the wing's advisor.

“I am upset I was not informed nor consulted about my removal,” said Hu to The Star.

“I want to know the reasons why I was removed from the post.”

Hu could not be reached for further comment.

Hu was among the few within PAS who had called on the party to engage more stakeholders before pushing for the implementation of the Kelantan Shariah Criminal Code Enactment II, which imposes the strict Islamic penal code, passed in 1993.

The Islamist party was in the centre of a storm last month when it insisted on submitting two private member's bills for parliamentary approval to implement hudud.

Amid intense opposition from its Pakatan Rakyat (PR) allies, particularly from DAP, and a lack of commitment from Putrajaya, the Kelantan state government agreed to postpone its plans to allow a  joint technical committee to discuss the matter.

Hu had also opposed to suggestions for the wing to take on a proactive role to explain the controversial enactment, saying that it was a job for PAS leadership and its elected representatives.

Hu was the founding member of the wing, which started as a supporters club in 2004 and upgraded to a wing in 2010, allowing its non-Muslim members to contest directly under the PAS banner.

Hu was PAS’s first non-Muslim candidate.

He contested against incumbent Datuk Wee Ka Siong, MCA’s Youth chief, for the Ayer Hitam parliamentary seat in Johor but lost by a majority of 7,310 votes in the general election last year.

PAS fielded a non-Muslim candidate, Kumutha Rahman, also from PAS Supporters’ Club, in the 2008 general election but she was obliged to run under a PKR ticket.

Quoting the new deputy chairman Lim Guan Seng, Harakahdaily reported that the new line-up will work closely to bolster the administration in PAS' held Kelantan.

According to the party paper, the wing is expected to form an “information team” to explain the hudud law to non-Muslims.