While six PAS leaders have qualified to contest for the party’s position of deputy president, all signs point to a straight fight between incumbent Nasharuddin Mat Isa and his contender Mohamad Sabu.

This is because two of the six who have garnered enough nominations, Kelantan exco Husam Musa and vice-president Salahuddin Ayub, have made it known that they will not bid for the number two spot.

Salahuddin had said that he will instead defend his vice-presidency.

Two other names nominated, Kedah PAS commissioner Azizan Abdul Razak and Pahang PAS commissioner Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man - who also holds the post of vice-president - have not stated their plans to contest the second-top spot in the party.

Political pundits expect neither to seek to advance a claim for the deputy presidency.

Former vice-president Mohamad Sabu, meanwhile, has been quietly garnering the support of various factions in the Islamist party in his drive to challenge Nasharuddin.

His platform, say observers, has been as a bridge of sorts between the Erdogans and the ulama within the ‘unity government’ faction.

The Erdogans are said to represent those aligned to Husam who believe PAS’ goals can be achieved by committing to the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, while those in the ‘unity government’ reportedly believe those goals will more likely be realised by forging closer ties with the Malay-based Umno.

Party officials do not seem to be expecting many names to appear on the ballots being prepared for the party polls taking place next month.

"Six names have qualified, but not all will contest, I expect there to be some that will withdraw,” said party secretary-general Mustafa Ali at a press conference in its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

"In the last party elections, six names were nominated, only three contested," he added.

He was responding to questions as to whether this year will see a heated contest for the party number two.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang is set to retain his post after the deadline passed without a contender being nominated to challenge the Terengganu PAS leader.

The eight names put forward as nominees for the deputy president contest came from 152 of the 180 PAS divisions that sent in nominations during the nomination period which ended last Sunday, May 15.

Nominations from six divisions were rejected for various technical reasons, leaving a total of 146 divisions whose nomination forms were accepted by the party elections committee overseeing the party polls.

While some PAS divisions did not send in nominations, others - such as Bachok and Libaran divisions - have not held their meetings.

PAS election committee chief Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman said the names of the two figures who did not qualify for the contest would not be disclosed, nor the number of nominations they received.

Two nominations are required to enable a PAS member to contest a party post.

"We don't want to be seen as campaigning for the candidates. The committee will not be seen to be involved with that," told the press conference.

"If the figures were known, it may lead to speculation," explained Mustafa further.

Meanwhile, 14 people have qualified to contest for the three posts of vice-president.

They include Azizan, Salahuddin, Husam, Tuan Ibrahim, Mohamad Sabu, incumbent Mahfuz Omar, Perak PAS commissioner Nizar Jamaluddin and central committee member Mujahid Yusof Rawa.

The names of all those nominated will be relayed to the nominees via letter and made known through PAS organ Harakah.

Nominees have until May 26 to indicate their acceptance - or otherwise - of the nominations via letter, SMS or fax.

The polls for the central leadership will take place during the party’s muktamar, which will take place this year from June 3 till June 5 in Taman Melewar, Selangor.