COMMENT Predictions as to which side - the ulama or the professionals - will triumph in tomorrow's party elections in PAS do sometimes miss the point that lasting victory for either side is dependent on how that side fares in managing the political realities that occur on their watch.

The PAS elector has over the years been known to be a pretty empirical sort who is not afraid to relegate or promote within the party hierarchy candidates who respectively are seen to flounder or flourish amid the challenges they face.

The PAS elector is a meritocrat and so is apt to vote up or down candidates who from their standpoint have done well or not done so well for the party...