KUALA SELANGOR, June 4 — Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang insisted again that PAS does not differentiate between the clergy class of ulama and its professionals, after its Ulama wing endorsed yesterday a list of candidates for the party polls made entirely of the ulama.

According to the PAS president, those who prefer one group over the other have fallen into the trap of Umno and the ideology of secularism, which he said is not practised by PAS as an Islamist party.

“The concept of PAS is there is no separation between religion, politics, economy and lifestyle. The formation of PAS itself involved every group, not just the ulama but also academics,” Hadi told reporters at the sidelines of the party’s muktamar, or annual congress.

“We need those who can deal with the current affairs. And we let our members to choose collectively for a new leadership who is relevant to the current issues.”

The Marang MP pointed at the elections of its Youth and women’s Muslimat wings yesterday, where he claimed had elected a mix of the two groups.

“What is interesting is that with the Youth and Muslimat, not just Islamic academics, but also science and technology academics.

“We see the numbers [from the groups] go up and down like the stock market, it is seasonal,” he added.

Over 1,000 PAS delegates from across the country will cast their votes this afternoon, with results announced as soon as counting finishes, even as late as midnight tonight.