Senator Hassan Shukri (right) was elected the new deputy president of PAS after he defeated his sole challenger, Mustafa Ali, by a 133-vote majority at the end of the PAS 49 th general assembly today.

He polled 531 votes to Mustafa's 398 votes in the first contest for the deputy president's post in recent memory. There were 46 spoilt votes.

Hassan, a religious scholar, has been a party vice president since 1988. He has headed PAS Selangor for more than a decade.

Some described Hassan's win as the second shock after yesterday's withdrawal of Dr Harun Din, who declined from being locked in a three-cornered fight with Mustafa and Hassan for the number two post.

Mustafa was tipped to be the hot favorite to fill the post, but this however raised doubt among PAS members as to whether a non- ulamak candidate would affect the continuity of the party's 'Leadership by Ulamak ' policy.

Ulama

vs non- ulama

Hassan's victory may be construed as the party's reluctance to accept leaders from among the non- Ulama , but a party observer close to the top leadership disagreed with the notion.

"If you look at the party's top line-up, there are more professionals than those from religious background. If at all, the results had balanced the presence of the two groups in the party," he said.

Mustafa however retained his position as the party's vice president by securing 492 votes together with Dr Hassan Ali (613 votes) and Azizan Abdul Razak (563 votes).

Long-term MP Muhammad Sabu and former Youth chief Mahfuz Omar failed in the bid for the vice presidency.

Those elected to fill the 18 central committee posts are Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, Dr Hatta Ramli, Kamarudin Jaafar, Husam Musa, Taib Azamuddin, Ahmad Awang, Abdul Wahab Ismail, Hashim Jasin, Wan Mutalib Embong, Abdul Ghani Ab Rahman, Abu Bakar Chik, Dr Lo' Lo' Mohd Ghazali, Subky Latif, Dr Syed Azman Syed Nawawi, Idris Ahmad, Daeng Sanusi Daeng Mariok, Anuar Tan Abdullah and Syed Ibrahim Syed Ahmad.

Salahudin Ayub won uncontested as Youth chief yesterday evening.

The new leaders are expected to hold their first central committee meeting on Sept 17 where they will have to elect the party's new secretary general, information chief, treasurer and six other committee members.

Party president Abdul Hadi Awang told a press conference later that the new line-up clearly showed members' wish for a balanced ulama -professional leadership.

"Their choice should not be surprising as from their debates and motions, it is clear that they want both ulama and professional who adhere closely to Islamic teachings and they believe that such mix will go well with party programmes," he said.

As to Mustafa's failure to win the deputy president's post, he stressed that no one had lost in the contest.

"What had happened was merely the delegates making their choice for various posts that needed to be filled. That's all."

Hadi also dismissed talks that Mustafa lost because he was from Terengganu stating that if the members had feared the monopoly of Terengganu leaders in the party, they would not have re-elected Mustafa as the vice-president.

No dictatorship

Asked to comment on Hassan and Mustafa's decision to contest despite his (Hadi's) obvious preference for a no-contest, the party president said there was nothing odd in that situation.

"What it means is that my views are not absolute. Members are not bound by my words. Members are free to express their views and do as they wish..we do not practise dictatorship in this party," he said.

At the same press conference, Hassan said his win does not signify any major change in the party as he would continue to work for the party as before.

"I just went up a notch after being at the vice level for a long time. That's all. Mustafa is still the vice-president...it's the same people, only some changed posts. We will continue to work as hard as before, if not harder," he said.

Mustafa, seated next to Hassan, said he accepted the decision of the delegates and agreed that his defeat was indeed an indication that members are still keen to keep the top posts exclusive for the ulama .

"Yes, this is what all of us actually favoured. This (policy) will definitely continue. But this time there will be more professionals to assist the ulama in leading the party," he said.