MOHAMED Azmin Ali thanked his supporters on Sunday night, suggesting that he had beaten his rival Rafizi Ramli for the deputy presidency of PKR.
Tabulation by The Malaysian Insight showed Azmin has amassed a 5,275-vote advantage over Rafizi.
But herein lies the problem.
Reports are coming out from PKR that Azmin’s advantage will be lost if results from several divisions go Rafizi’s way.
The outcome in Julau, Sarawak, was inconclusive after allegations that the much-maligned e-voting system had been hacked. Police have seized several tablets. The Julau division has a membership of more than 13,000.
Also inconclusive are the results from Pensiangan in Sabah and several divisions in Selangor.
Calls are stirring for a review of polling at other centres, particularly in Selangor, where the results suddenly swung heavily in favour of Azmin, after neck-to-neck tussles.
Both incoming president Anwar Ibrahim and his predecessor, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail yesterday ticked off Azmin for his premature victory announcement, prompting many to suggest this only showed the couple’s support for Rafizi.
PKR central election committee (JPP) chairman Rashid Din said the official results would only be announced at the party’s annual congress this weekend.
Julau the decider
The final outcome in the race between Azmin and Rafizi may be decided by the votes from Julau.
This division has been in the news for its drastic increase in membership, more than 12,000 new members in a day, claims of unruly behaviour by Azmin’s supporters and allegations of vote manipulation.
“We have not decided if we want to hold fresh polls in Julau or accept the decision as it is. Some of the tablets used for voting are with the police,” Rashid said.
The results of the elections in Julau have been suspended after police seized several tablets that were allegedly hacked.
PKR central election committee systems and IT unit head Alvin Teoh was arrested at Sibu airport, as he was about to board a flight back to Kuala Lumpur. He was questioned for four hours before being released on bail.
This followed police reports lodged by supporters of Rafizi, claiming that Teoh had downloaded the “Prey anti-theft” app on some tablets used in Julau.
Inconclusive votes
Rashid also said the results of re-voting in Sabah’s Pensiangan division were not conclusive.
“Pensiangan still has more than 1,000 votes which have yet to be tabulated. As such the outcome of this division is also not conclusive.”
There are also votes which are not counted and tabulated in several other places, including Selangor. These votes number more than 5,000.
A check at the JPP’s website showed that confirmed vote counts are only available in six states – Penang, Johor, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and the Federal Territory.
Rafizi has not conceded the election and is confident he will overtake Azmin when all the votes have been tabulated.
“I am confident that when the full tally is released tomorrow or the day after, I will win by more than 4,500 votes,” he said in a video on social media, thanking his supporters in Sarawak.
PKR’s political bureau is set to meet today to determine the outcome of the polls.
What if Rafizi loses?
Analysts do not see the end of Rafizi’s political career if he loses against Azmin.
Universiti Malaya’s Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi said Anwar will give Rafizi a prominent role in the party.
“Rafizi will be appointed to an important position. And if a PKR seat in parliament becomes vacant, he would be asked to contest. This is to provide a balance of power in the party.”
PKR’s constitution allows for three vice-presidents to be appointed. Other appointed positions in the party include the secretary-general, treasurer, strategic director and state chiefs.
Party grassroots feel Rafizi is an asset to the party whose experience and knowledge is still needed, even if he is defeated in the polls.
“Based on his experience and knowledge, he will never be sidelined. His strategic mind is still needed by the party in facing the next general election.
“Azmin and Rafizi will work together,” said Kapar division secretary Mohd Ruzani Mohd Sani.
Outgoing PKR Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad is also confident the party’s factions will reconcile after the polls, just like after previous party elections.
“There will be differences, but we will overcome them,” he said.
What if Azmin loses?
The bigger question is, what happens if Azmin is defeated?
Would he call for the polls to be annulled due to the many complaints? Or would he decide to take his supporters elsewhere?
Azmin has declared his loyalty to the party and Anwar despite accusations by Rafizi and his team that the economic affairs minister has bigger plans for himself.
Azmin stands to lose big if he is defeated. His position as the senior minister in the cabinet would also be affected.
But party leaders believe Anwar will play a strong role in ensuring PKR is not damaged by any defection or internal fight.
How bad is the split?
Several party leaders believe they will be able to overcome the deep rifts that surfaced during the party elections.
However, apart from the close fight for the post of deputy president, all other contested positions seemed to have been won by team Azmin.
Former Batu MP Chua Tian Chang, or popularly known as Tian Chua, who is vying for a vice-president’s seat, said the party will face a bleak future if Rafizi refuses to accept defeat.
“He has to accept the decision of the members and accept whatever position is given to him. If that happens, there will no problems. The rest will start working together with the winning team,” he said.
Former party deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali is optimistic that the bickering during the party polls would settle down after the elections.
Anwar factor
PKR Youth chief hopeful Dr Afif Bahardin said Anwar, who will take office as party president this weekend, can unite the warring factions.
“Anwar has a heavy task of uniting and repairing the party’s image. Only he can make the two factions work together again,” said the Azmin supporter.
For Wong Chen who is vying to be in the leadership council, the main issue is to ensure Anwar becomes prime minister after Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“In the end, the party will need to be united behind Anwar. That’s the main aim – to make Anwar PM,” said the Subang MP.
TH MALAYSIAN INSIGHT
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