By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani
June 04, 201 | The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, June 4 — Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang told PAS to be united and gear up for the coming general election after his Islamist party experienced its most hotly-contested polls in recent history.
The party president also congratulated the delegates and candidates for showing maturity in accepting the election results gracefully.
“We lead as a collective and not individuals.
“It is the delegates who make changes in the party and not the leaders. The party’s policy won’t change but the strategy will,” he told delegates today.
Mohamad Sabu won the party deputy presidency today with 420 votes, leading a group of progressive leaders to counter conservatives who prefer to link up with Umno.
The Penang-born Mohamad defeated incumbent Nasharudin Mat Isa, who received only 224 votes, and vice-president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, who came second with 399 votes. A total of 1,100 delegates voted in this year’s party elections.
In the vice-presidential race, incumbent Salahuddin Ayub took top spot with 753 votes, Datuk Husam Musa was second with 660 votes while another incumbent Datuk Mahfuz Omar kept his post with 616 votes.
The party poll was billed as a contest between the party’s conservative ulama faction and the professionals (dubbed the Erdogans in a reference to progressive Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan).
Hadi (picture) stressed that his new cabinet is an election cabinet and reiterated the party’s loyalty to Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
“PAS is the most experienced and oldest party in Pakatan Rakyat. We have been the government at the federal and state level. We have been through many political tests and they have given us their trust.
“They continue to trust us and has given three states (Kedah, Kelantan and Perak) for PAS to govern,” he said.
Yesterday, Hadi put an end to any question of the party leaving PR for Umno despite whispers of unity talks between the Malay parties emerging early this year.
Hadi said PAS must end Umno’s culture of dirty politics as the party did not stand for Islam or the Malay community because it only wanted to retain power at any cost.
Political analysts are speculating that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is likely to delay snap polls until the end of this year or early 2012.