Low PKR polls turnout raises doubts on actual membership

 

Some party insiders say the low turnout at the PKR elections could be a ‘warning sign’ ahead of GE15.

PETALING JAYA: The low turnout of PKR members in its national elections has caused an analyst to question the actual number of members in the Anwar Ibrahim-led party.

This comes after only 137,127 of the party’s 1.1 million members, or 12.26%, had voted physically or online.

Universiti Utara Malaysia’s Azizuddin Mohd Sani said the low turnout raised questions about PKR’s membership and has also cast doubts on the winners of the posts up for grabs.

Azizuddin said 12% of members voting was “way too low” to truly “legitimise” the winners of the posts contested, although he noted that there was no law against such low voter turnouts.

“In a democracy, when members do not go out to vote, it might not necessarily mean they are rejecting the party.

“It’s possible that members still accept the party and the candidates contesting because they don’t see any candidates that would negatively affect them.

“But the party’s leadership has to find the best way to address this, or else, people will perceive PKR as being irrelevant, which will weaken the party,” he told FMT.

Party insiders had sounded the alarm that the low voter turnout could be a sign that PKR was headed for disaster in GE15. The 12.26% turnout does not include the eight divisions where a revote had been called following glitches.

There was good online voting response with 70,200 of the 76,932 registered picking their choices, but the physical voting saw poor response, with only 59,056 of the 1.04 million eligible voters casting their ballots.

Sivamurugan Pandian of Universiti Sains Malaysia said the low turnout was a reflection of the candidates’ failure to attract members to go out and vote for them.

He did not rule out the possibility that these were warning signs for PKR, especially after its heavy losses in the past three state elections, where it only won one seat, in Johor.

He told FMT this might be a wake-up call for PKR to go back to struggling for freedom and democracy as a party, not individuals, while coming up with a solid plan for the future.

The party elections kicked off on May 13, with the focus largely on the number two post, with secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and vice-president Rafizi Ramli fighting it out for the deputy presidency.

Anwar retained the party presidency after being elected unopposed. - FMT