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Contrary to doom-sayers' views in the run-up to PAS party election, incumbent No. 2 Nasharuddin Mat Isa retained his post with higher votes.

Nasharuddin beat conservative theologian Harun Taib with a a decisive 207-vote majority -- 574 votes against Harun’s 367.

Significantly, none of the hardcore ulamas made it to the three positions of Vice President up for contest.

Borrowing words from Joceline Tan, the new VP line-up are made up by technocrat Husam Musa (831 votes out of 947 voting delegates), grassroots activist Mohamed Sabu (666 votes) and modern ulama Ahmad Awang, a former ABIM leader (427 votes).

The new central committee line-up comprised six new faces and 12 incumbents, out of which, twelve ulama figures prominently occupying the Top 4 in terms of votes garnered.

The position of head of Dewan Ulama vacated by Harun, who challenged Nasharuddin and lost, is now occupied by Mohamed Daud, better known as Mat Iraq.

There were 1,125 delegates who attended the three-day PAS Muktamar which closed yesterday.

In another commentary, Joceline said the election result is a reflection of how far PAS had come from its sekolah pondok (village religious school) roots. Even elderly ulama Nik Aziz Nik Mat and Hadi Awang know that religiosity and prayer alone cannot help them with the complexities of running a state, she said.

I attended the PAS Multamar in 2005 as an invited blogger. Then, the mood was downcast with a sense of renewal to help the party recover lost ground in the 2004 general election. They delegates understood the call for survival and voted in the young technocrats and professionals to balance the theologians.

This year's party election, to which I was invited again but had to skip as I am on the road, just re-affirmed that the party needed to sustain the untested team that was tasked to redeem itself in the next general election.

Will there be a spirit of mesyuarah prevailing among BN detractors in the running up to the election fever?