Big names in PKR polls wiped out

NEWS FOCUS PETALING JAYA - Several Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) big names, including those from Sabah and Sarawak, were reported to be wiped out in the race for the party's top positions.

Although the official results of the PKR polls will only be announced on Sunday, the party is already abuzz over the results.

Among the top guns who failed to make it for the vice-president's post were Subang MP R Sivarasa, Selangor executive councillors Dr Xavier Jayakumar and Mohd Yahya Sahri, former Sabah chief Ansari Abdullah and Sarawak chief Baru Bian, The Star reported.

Outgoing vice-president Dr Jeffrey Kitingan and Johor chief Chua Jui Meng had opted out of the vice-presidential race.

Another incumbent vice-president, Dr Lee Boon Chye, also decided not to defend his position.

Not to least, PKR will also be without Zaid Ibrahim who has quit from the party's deputy presidential race citing election fraud and frustration over the party and its leadership.

Zaid was initially proven to be a formidable opponent in the race to Azmin Ali, who has secured more than 19,000 votes while Mustaffa Kamil Ayub only garnered about 4,500 votes.

The PKR political bureau has reacted to Zaid's resignation on Monday by "terminating" his membership with immediate effect which the party's secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said was to "make it easy" for the former to decide his next political move.

Ethnic composition in the new line-up

PKR's 400,000 membership roll is said to comprise 50% Malays, 23% Indians, 12% Chinese and 15% from Sabah and Sarawak.

However, The Star reported that the new top line-up did not reflect the multi-ethnic composition.

Officials have said that Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, Batu MP Tian Chua, Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh and Penang Deputy Chief Minister 1 Mansor Othman are the new vice-presidents defeating 13 other candidates, the English daily reported.

According to Sivarasa, "It is impossible to have a line-up that reflects racial composition in a democratic election system.

“Furthermore, there were five Indians contesting VP positions, thus further splitting the votes," he added.

Saifuddin said that 60% of the new line-up in the 218 divisions were new faces and almost 30% of members had exercised their right to vote in the country’s first direct elections in a party. Malaysian Mirror