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| Azmin, Mustaffa left in No. 2 race after Zaid dropped out |
Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has already pulled out of the heated race for the party deputy presidency, while another contender, vice-president Mustaffa Kamil Ayub, is now contesting under protest against front-runner Azmin Ali, the vice-president who is confidant to PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Both Zaid and Mustaffa claim the polls have been marked by irregularities and want fresh elections to be called while Azmin says all votes cast should be counted.
PKR organising secretary Radin Shamsulkamar Shamsudin said candidates who are trailing in the race would be able to reverse their fortune with the help of Selangor members.
“Selangor has around 100,000 members. So even a candidate with only hundreds of votes may be able beat others with the support of let say 10 per cent of the members,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
Voting in Selangor begins with the Sepang division this morning while eight other divisions will vote tomorrow.
As of last weekend, a total of 11,670 members from 87 of the 218 divisions have voted. Voting turnout since the start of polling process on October 29 is around 12 per cent.
A party insider expected the voting tally in the contest for the four vice-president posts to change with Selangor leaders performing better than the current leading candidates.
Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar is now leading the PKR vice-presidential race with 6,518, followed by Tian Chua (5,115), Fuziah Salleh (4,509) and Mansor Othman (4,269).
They are trailed by Padang Serai MP N. Gobalakrishnan (3,039) and Selangor executive councillor Xavier Jayakumar (2,418).
Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah finished seventh last weekend.
Two other Selangor candidates in the race are Kapar MP S. Manickavasagam and a former aide to Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, Yahya Sahri who are still trailing with 2,005 and 535 votes respectively.
“Yahya Sahri and Manickavasagam are most likely to make major gains this weekend. Both of them have been active campaigning in Selangor,” said a party member familiar with the campaigning activities.
Gobalakrishnan too was confident of making it to the top four.
“I am confident of at least fourth place with the votes from Selangor members,” Gobalakrishnan told The Malaysian Insider.
Another party insider however believed that position of the top four vice-president candidates are secure, but the race for the 25-seat central leadership council (MPP) would be more intense.
“The top four will continue to lead the race, but the competition will be for the fifth place as the candidate will most likely be appointed vice-president,” he said.
He however expected more elected representatives to make it to the top 25 in the MPP race. As of last weekend only nine out of 18 PKR’s elected representatives are in.
“More surprises will be seen in the MPP contest. A lot of people who have not done well previously will improve this weekend,” he said.
“Yaakob Sapari, for example, is expected to do better this weekend,” he added, referring to the Selangor executive councillor who ended up in 38th place last weekend.
A total of 132 candidates are running for the 25 MPP positions.
The voting process, which began October 29, ends on November 21 and the results would be officially announced at the PKR annual congress which will be held from November 26 to 28. - Malaysian Insider
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