Through secret ballot, the party rank-and-file fortified the ongoing shift away from orthodoxy, while carefully preserving the collective charisma of the ulama class of senior religious scholars. If the last party elections two years ago started this reformist trend with the rise to prominence of the technocrats and professionals, the 53rd muktamar or general assembly saw the emergence of a new breed of clerics with a reformist image – the "young ulama."
The rise of the young ulama in 2007 is reminiscent of the ascendancy of the young ulama of the early 1980s which paved the way for the current ulama leadership in PAS. But contrary to the general perception of their reversing the shift away from conservatism, the emergence of the new generation of young ulama actually reaffirmed the role of the technocratic class as agents of change in the party. This is because the young ulama sit well with both the senior ulama class as well as the technocrats and professionals. In this respect, the young ulama, who now dominate the youth wing, act as a bridge between the senior ulama class and the technocrats/professionals. Their emergence therefore prevents any divisive dualism in the party, which some party leaders were beginning to worry about. Indeed, as PAS' spiritual adviser "Tok Guru" Nik Aziz Nik Mat told the media, the long-term goal of the party is to mould an integrated personality such that in future, an ulama is as much a professional, and a professional an ulama.
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