SHAH ALAM, Nov 24 — After a close fight that saw a vote recount last night, PAS veteran favourite Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man emerged one of the Islamist party’s three vice-presidents, unseating incumbent Datuk Mahfuz Omar.

The other two incumbents Salahuddin Ayub and Datuk Husam Musa kept their posts, despite intense challenge from another veteran, Datuk Abu Bakar Chik, seen aligned to the conservative ulama (Islamic clerics) faction.

Salahuddin garnered the highest number of votes at 917 votes from 1,086. Tuan Ibrahim got the second largest votes at 849, and Husam 520.

Mahfuz was narrowly edged out by Husam, receiving 504 votes. Abu Bakar Chik received only 364.

Tuan Ibrahim was previously the party’s information chief, and is a long-time favourite of the Islamist party members from both the ulama and professional groups.

He was once tipped to replace incumbent PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, before opting out of the race, leaving Kelantan Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah as the only challenger.

It is understood that Mahfuz will now be focusing on Kedah following his recent appointment as the northern state's acting PAS commissioner, after the death of its predecessor, the late Tan Sri Azizan Abdul Razak.

Azizan, who was also the Sungai Limau assemblyman, died in September from a serious heart complication, triggering a by-election which was subsequently won by Barisan Nasional.

In the May polls, Mahfuz had won the Pokok Sena parlimentary seat in Kedah, defeating Umno’s Shahlan Ismail by a 3,935-vote majority.

Yesterday, incumbent PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu beat challenger Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah to keep his seat in party polls, but the Islamists party’s conservative clerics, better known as the ulama faction, gained ground within its central leadership.

The Penang-born popularly known as Mat Sabu won by a slim 98-vote margin, scoring 588 out of 1,086 votes against Mohd Amar’s 492 votes.

Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang stays as party president after the post was uncontested.

The results for vice-president posts underwent a recount last night, as PAS Central Election Committee chairman Asmuni Awi revealed that the results were too close to call, with all five candidates in a neck-to-neck fight.

More candidates seen to be aligned to PAS’s influential ulama faction—who make up the opposition party’s soul—were also voted into the party’s central working committee, including the entry of the Youth wing’s two former top leaders, Nasruddin Hassan and Nik Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz.

Their numbers now match the candidates seen as representing PAS’ progressives, nicknamed the Erdogans, after three-term Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, popularly known for his economic reforms.

A total of 1,057 delegates also voted to choose 18 central working committee members out of the 61 candidates.

The winners and their respective votes are as follows: Idris Ahmad (927), Mazlan Aliman (840), Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin (688), Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah (679), Dr Mohd Hatta Ramli (649), Nasruddin Hassan (648), Nik Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz (627), Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa (626), Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (610), and Mohamed Hanipa Maidin (604).

Also selected were Datuk Kamarudin Jaafar (562), Khalid Abdul Samad (547), Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh (518), Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi (476), Dr Riduan Mohd Nor (469), Datuk Dr Mahfodz Mohamed (455), Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud (437), and Nuridah Salleh (424).