PAS central committee member Mohamad Sabu is leading in the race for the post of PAS deputy president, topping the nominations received by its incumbent Nasharudin Mat Isa over the weekend.
The former Kuala Kedah MP last tried for the PAS number two spot in 2009 but lost to Nasharudin.
PAS will hold its party polls during its 57th “muktamar” (annual general meeting) at Kolej Universiti Islam Zulkifli Muhammad, Taman Melewar, Gombak, early next month.
The deadline for nominations is May 15.
Mohamad (picture), popularly called “Mat Sabu”, has already garnered 70 nominations out of the 130 divisions that have already met compared to Nasharudin, who has yet to get 40.
PAS has a total of 179 divisions nationwide.
Some 75 per cent of the total divisions have already held their meetings and carried out nominations as recent as last weekend, though some areas also did not nominate anyone.
But some political observers hold that the number of nominations does not necessarily reflect the direction of support and vote in the party election.
“The total nominations received by Mat Sabu are quite attractive, but as in the past years and in other parties, nominations do not necessarily translate into votes and the final support... or win of a candidate,” a political analyst, who did not want to be named, told The Malaysian Insider when contacted.
The source also did not deny that the nominations received by Mohamad reflect the current developments in the Islamist party.
“In the end, the representatives will consider the background of the ulamas and the professionals in deciding their support,” said the source who did not deny Mohamad is currently the most popular speaker among the senior PAS leaders.
Mohamad, who confirmed he would contest the party’s No. 2 position last week, refused to comment.
In the 2009 poll, he won only about 30 nominations.
On average, Mohamad has received nominations from all the states — Kedah, Perak, Penang, Selangor, Perlis, Negri Sembilan, Malacca, Sabah, Kelantan, Johor, Pahang and the Federal Territory — except for Terengganu, for now.
Overall, the biggest support came from Johor with 15 nominations followed by Perak (13), Kedah (eight), Kelantan (six), Penang and Sabah (five), Selangor and Negri Sembilan (four) and Pahang (three).
Malacca, Perlis and the Federal Territory each gave him two nominations with one from Sarawak.
Apart from Mohamad and Nasharudin, four other PAS leaders have been nominated for the same position.
They are vice-presidents Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man who got 17 nominations, Salahuddin Ayub (four), Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak (five) and former Perak MB Datuk Seri Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin with one nomination.
Both Azizan and Nizar are also in the central working committee.
However, only Mohamad and Nasharudin have confirmed they will contest.
In 2009, the party saw Mohamad, Nasharudin and Datuk Husam Musa entering the ring for a three-cornered fight for the deputy president’s chair.
Husam, who scored 281 votes then, has announced he will not contest the post this round.
