Nizar pulls out of PAS veep contest
Tarani PalaniPublished: May 26, 2009 4:08 AM | Updated: May 26, 2009 8:03 AM
Ousted Perak menteri besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, a fast-rising PAS leader, has declined nominations for the party’s vice-president post, leaving five candidates in the contest.
Ousted Perak menteri besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, a fast-rising PAS leader, has declined nominations for the party’s vice-president post, leaving five candidates in the contest.
The five - information chief Mahfuz Omar, incumbent Youth chief Salahuddin Ayub and three incumbent central committee members, Mujahid Yusof Rawa (Penang PAS deputy commissioner), Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (Pahang PAS chief) and Nik Mohd Amar Abdullah (Kelantan state exco member) - will be competing for the three vice-president posts.
None of the incumbent vice-presidents are defending their post, with two - Husam Musa and Mohamad Sabu - challenging incumbent deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa for the coveted No 2 post.
Another incumbent vice-president Ahmad Awang, who is also Perak PAS chief, will not be contesting for any post in next month’s party polls.
Mahfuz is making his second attempt for vice-president after having failed to win the post in the last election three years ago. Meanwhile, Abdul Hadi Awang has been re-elected unopposed as PAS president.
Nizar to go for central committee seat
The party today released its final list of candidates today at the PAS headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. No one is allowed to pull out of the race from today onwards.
Another hot contest is shaping up at the central committee level, where 54 candidates, including Nizar, are contesting for 18 seats.
“I would expect a very tight race for the central committee because the incumbents are in the race and they are joined by popular candidates on the verge of ‘celebrity-dom’,” said PAS election director Mustafa Ali, who made the announcement today.
Both the Youth and the Ulama wings will see no contest for the top three posts - all of which are being retained by the incumbents.
Nasrudin Hassan remains as Youth wing’s chief, while Azman Shapawi Abdul Rani and Ahmad Sabki Yusof continues to be deputy and vice-president respectively.
However, 23 candidates are vying to fill the 12 seats in Youth’s working committee.
Meanwhile, the Ulama wing president is Haron Taib while Mahfodz Mohamed and Ahmad Yaakob are deputy president and vice-president respectively.
For the Ulama’s working committee, 21 candidates are contesting to fill its 12 seats.
The women’s wing will see competition for both president and deputy president with two candidates each eyeing the two top spots. The vice-president post has been retained uncontested by Mumtaz Nawi.
This is the first time that the Islamic party releases the list of nominees prior to the party’s muktamar (general assembly).
When questioned about this, Mustafa replied that it to “make things easier for the press as well as the people (party members).”
“It is to be fair to all candidates, even those whom are not that well-known will be known as well.”
Mustafa also commented that there was a general increase in number of nominations overall and credited that to the fact that
PAS has managed to win more seats at both federal and state levels, providing an opportunity for these leaders to be better known.
“There is more interest than the past. Last time, even if people wanted to nominate them, they were unable to recognise the leaders…” he said, describing the polls this year as the most crowded in the party’s history.
More women to contest in CC
The party’s current line-up in the central committee consists of four women and this number could increase given that eight women are vying to fill the 18 seats.
Asked to comment on their chances, Mustafa Ali said “some will get in”. He also said that this could be taken as an indicator that women are getting more support within the party.
“Even in the Women’s wing (Muslimat), there are more nominations this time around.”
PAS muktamar begins on the June 3. Around 300 delegates each from the Youth, Ulama, Women’s wings will be participating in the election and the results will be known on June 4.
Meanwhile, the top party and central working committee posts will be elected by some 1,100 delegates from 176 divisions and the results will be known on the June 6.
The five - information chief Mahfuz Omar, incumbent Youth chief Salahuddin Ayub and three incumbent central committee members, Mujahid Yusof Rawa (Penang PAS deputy commissioner), Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (Pahang PAS chief) and Nik Mohd Amar Abdullah (Kelantan state exco member) - will be competing for the three vice-president posts.None of the incumbent vice-presidents are defending their post, with two - Husam Musa and Mohamad Sabu - challenging incumbent deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa for the coveted No 2 post.
Another incumbent vice-president Ahmad Awang, who is also Perak PAS chief, will not be contesting for any post in next month’s party polls.
Mahfuz is making his second attempt for vice-president after having failed to win the post in the last election three years ago. Meanwhile, Abdul Hadi Awang has been re-elected unopposed as PAS president.
Nizar to go for central committee seat
The party today released its final list of candidates today at the PAS headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. No one is allowed to pull out of the race from today onwards.
Another hot contest is shaping up at the central committee level, where 54 candidates, including Nizar, are contesting for 18 seats.
“I would expect a very tight race for the central committee because the incumbents are in the race and they are joined by popular candidates on the verge of ‘celebrity-dom’,” said PAS election director Mustafa Ali, who made the announcement today.Both the Youth and the Ulama wings will see no contest for the top three posts - all of which are being retained by the incumbents.
Nasrudin Hassan remains as Youth wing’s chief, while Azman Shapawi Abdul Rani and Ahmad Sabki Yusof continues to be deputy and vice-president respectively.
However, 23 candidates are vying to fill the 12 seats in Youth’s working committee.
Meanwhile, the Ulama wing president is Haron Taib while Mahfodz Mohamed and Ahmad Yaakob are deputy president and vice-president respectively.
For the Ulama’s working committee, 21 candidates are contesting to fill its 12 seats.
The women’s wing will see competition for both president and deputy president with two candidates each eyeing the two top spots. The vice-president post has been retained uncontested by Mumtaz Nawi.
This is the first time that the Islamic party releases the list of nominees prior to the party’s muktamar (general assembly).
When questioned about this, Mustafa replied that it to “make things easier for the press as well as the people (party members).”
“It is to be fair to all candidates, even those whom are not that well-known will be known as well.”
Mustafa also commented that there was a general increase in number of nominations overall and credited that to the fact that
PAS has managed to win more seats at both federal and state levels, providing an opportunity for these leaders to be better known.
“There is more interest than the past. Last time, even if people wanted to nominate them, they were unable to recognise the leaders…” he said, describing the polls this year as the most crowded in the party’s history.
More women to contest in CC
The party’s current line-up in the central committee consists of four women and this number could increase given that eight women are vying to fill the 18 seats.
Asked to comment on their chances, Mustafa Ali said “some will get in”. He also said that this could be taken as an indicator that women are getting more support within the party.
“Even in the Women’s wing (Muslimat), there are more nominations this time around.”
PAS muktamar begins on the June 3. Around 300 delegates each from the Youth, Ulama, Women’s wings will be participating in the election and the results will be known on June 4.
Meanwhile, the top party and central working committee posts will be elected by some 1,100 delegates from 176 divisions and the results will be known on the June 6.
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