KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysia's opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) has declared itself the "unofficial opposition" in Penang, and called for the state government to concentrate on the welfare of the people instead of politics.

"We are the matured opposition, we are the opposition to our former friend.

"Of course, Umno is still the opposition and we oppose Umno too, hence why I say we are the unofficial opposition," Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan told reporters in Parliament on Thursday (Nov 19).

The PAS secretary-general added that he had anticipated the sacking of the 300 PAS members who had held positions in the Penang Community Development and Security Committee (JKKK).

"It is something we expected considering the strained relationship we have with them.

"We had previously asked our members to carry out their tasks as usual and today found that they have been dismissed. We accept it and despite what happened, will continue to serve the people when needed," he said.

Mr Takiyuddin added that PAS in Penang would continue to do what is needed to get the money and help the people.

"It must also be understood that there were 1083 JKKK members in Penang. After this incident there are still almost 800 of them left.

"We are worried about some of the areas not getting the services needed but we will sort it out," he said.

On Wednesday, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and his deputy Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon announced the sacking of 300 JKKK members in Penang.

It was said that the sacking had taken place in October and that the dismissed representatives have since been replaced by those who fully support the Pakatan Harapan state government.

"We looked through all the PAS members in the JKKK and issued termination letters to those who do not support Pakatan Harapan," he had said.