Will PAS delegates rally behind Nik Aziz?

The battle for top posts will be a bellwether for the party as it gears up to face the coming general election.

KUALA LUMPUR: As PAS delegates go to the polls at the party’s muktamar (general assembly) tomorrow, many political observers are keenly watching if they will heed PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat’s call for candidates from Kelantan to be elected to the party leadership.

Nik Aziz, who is also Kelantan menteri besar, has openly called on the delegates to pick candidates who can bring about what he called the “Kelantan experience” to the national level as he is seen to be very determined this time around to have leaders from the state at the highest level of the party hierarchy.

In the last party election in 2009, candidates from Kelantan were wiped out from the top leadership, including his (Nik Aziz’s) golden boy Husam Musa, who was vying for the deputy presidency then.

“It is difficult to say. If Kelantan emerges as the winner this time, it will pose a big challenge for Hadi (PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang). It will show that there is persistent support for Nik Aziz.

“No doubt it will be a very hard tussle between all candidates, but I don’t think they would settle for both Husam and Nik Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah this time around,” said political analyst Sivamurugan Pandian, who is a lecturer at Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Husam and Nik Mohd Amar are Kelantan state executive councillors and both of them are contesting for the vice-president posts against incumbents Salahudin Ayub and Mahfuz Omar as well as two other newcomers, namely Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin and PAS information chief Idris Ahmad.

Sivamurugan believes it will still be difficult for the leaders from Kelantan to make a breakthrough at this party election simply because he thinks the delegates will not want any split in the party as it faces the next general election.

“The same goes for the deputy president post. At the last election, the (Kelantan) group was pushing for Husam. This time around, they are pushing for Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, who is also Nik Aziz’s nephew. There must be some persuasion in order for Tuan Ibrahim to contest the number two post. However, I still find it difficult for the (Kelantan) group to make a breakthrough in this election,” he said.

Trump card

Even though the PAS leadership has denied there is any such tussle between Hadi’s supporters or better known as the “Terengganu Group” and Nik Aziz’s “Kelantan group”, some political observers believe the rivalry does exist.

They said even through Hadi has been unchallenged as president for the fifth term, the observers said things had not been normal since the 2009 election, which was billed as the most intense in the party’s history and caused a rift of sorts between its leaders in Kelantan and Terengganu.

Some claimed that Nik Aziz still has not got over his disappointment that Husam lost in the fight for the No 2 post and this may explain why in this party election, the leaders from Kelantan have been making a strong bid for the number two and number three posts in the party.

Party insiders believe Tuan Ibrahim, a former lecturer, is the “trump card” by the leaders from the Kelantan group to split the ulama (religious leaders )votes while at the same time trying to persuade incumbent Nasharudin Mat Isa to give way.

However, till now, the effort has not been successful as Nasharudin, who is said to be aligned to Hadi, has said that he is staying put to defend the number two post.

Despite the setback, some leaders still believe Tuan Ibrahim will make it in this election as he is considered acceptable to all quarters.

“Tuan Ibrahim is known as the person who is very well accepted by the ulama as well as the professionals. The delegates will not have problems accepting him as he was voted in as vice-president in the last party election,” said an insider.

However, PAS central committee member Kamaruddin Jaafar said the relationship between Hadi and Nik Aziz had improved as there were no more open clashes as had reportedly happened before.

Whether there are clashes or not, many are in agreement that the contest between Tuan Ibrahim, Mohamad Sabu and Nasharudin for the party number two post is still the most keenly watched by the political observers and party members in this election.

- Bernama