More surprises - three PKR divisions in Sabah to undergo re-election

PKR POLLS | The Tawau, Keningau and Pensiangan PKR divisions will have to undergo re-elections - which would mean that the contest for the party deputy presidency could go down to the wire.

When contacted today, PKR elections committee (JPP) head Rashid Din confirmed that the three divisions would have to undergo re-election this coming Sunday.

This decision is expected to be affirmed by the party's political bureau meeting tonight which will be chaired by the party's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

The Keningau and Tawau PKR divisional elections were initially held on Nov 3 while the Pensiangan division election was held on Nov 4.

Although the JPP has yet to release results for all three divisions, unofficial tallies put incumbent PKR deputy Mohamed Azmin Ali as the victor in Tawau and his challenger Rafizi Ramli the victor in Pensiangan and Keningau.

Overall, Malaysiakini's unofficial tally of the results had put Azmin at 3,202 votes ahead of Rafizi.

With the elections results of the three divisions now nullified, Malaysiakini's unofficial tally still places Azmin with an approximately 3,000-vote lead.

The Keningau election was marred by disruptions while voting in Pensiangan was extended to about 8pm, far beyond the 5pm cut-off time observed elsewhere.

Rafizi had won by a landslide in Pensiangan.

Large membership

Yesterday, Rafizi claimed that he could have been leading by 3,000 votes had there not been "sabotage" in Sabah.

Barring any further re-elections, this weekend should see the final round of voting for the bruising party elections, which began on Oct 22.

Sarawak PKR will be voting on Saturday while there will also be re-elections for some divisions in Negeri Sembilan, Malacca and Sabah on Sunday.

However, the focus for this weekend will mainly be on the Julau (Sarawak), Pensiangan and Tawau divisions, which have large membership figures. - Mkini