PKR polls: 'Top-only' for the masses, optional vote-by-phone system

 

The upcoming PKR internal election, which has the only each-member-one-vote system in the country, will feature two major changes.

The first change is party members no longer get to choose the 20 central leadership council (MPP) members. The second change is that members can either vote using a smartphone application or in person.

In an interview with Malaysiakini, election committee chairperson Zaliha Mustafa (above) explained that the 20 MPP members will instead be elected by the 2,664 participants of the party's annual delegates congress in June.

This meant that the regular party members will only be allowed to vote for the party president, deputy president and four vice-presidents.

A similar "top-only" election system will be in place for the women and youth wing leadership elections.

"The top position is the one that the committee has an interest in because the members know their uppermost leadership.

"The candidates for the 20 MPP positions are usually less known by members. That's why we want one-person-one-vote where all members can elect the uppermost office-bearers of the party," she said.

‘Top-only’ system

The "top-only" system was among the recommendations by the committee set up by PKR's leadership to reform the party election system. It was later endorsed by the political bureau and the MPP.

PKR has 1.2 million members. Since 2010, it has conducted three leadership elections using the one-person-one-vote system, while most parties adopt a delegates system, which limits the pool of voters.

An exception is Umno, which has an electoral college system involving around 150,000 members split into 191 divisions. Each division can only cast one vote.

One of the reasons why the leadership decided to drop the elections for 20 MPP positions was to address the "cai" culture.

Leadership elections for political parties typically see a "cai dan" - the Chinese term for "restaurant menu" - which serves as a voting guide, often designed around party factions.

"The bad thing about 'cai' is members might not know who they are voting for but instead follow a list. This is not good practice," said Zaliha.

PKR's last leadership election was held in 2018, which saw the "cai" culture in full swing. Party members were frequently spotted carrying a "cai" into the voting booths.

At the time, PKR's "cai" described either a team loyal to Azmin Ali or Rafizi Ramli. Those on Azmin's "cai" eventually won handsomely.

Former PKR member Dr Afif Bahardin was among those who complained about the ‘cai’ culture in PKR elections.

Remote voting

The upcoming party election will also see the introduction of a smartphone application that will, for the first time in Malaysian history, allow for remote voting.

Known as "Adil" application, Zaliha said the party’s leadership expressed hope that the convenience of remote voting would give a boost to the turnout rate.

This is a departure from PKR's experiment with electronic voting booths during the 2018 election. That process took three months and was marred by an alleged "cyber attack" and delays.

Tablet computers used for the 2018 PKR leadership elections.

According to Zaliha, only around 200,000 voters turned up during the 2018 election. The target for this year is 350,000.

"Our target is to have at least 30 percent of the members cast their ballot via the online mobile application. For this purpose, we will work hard to promote online voting," she said.

"Those who registered themselves as online voters will be given three days to have their ballot cast via the application. They can vote online even they are overseas or travel outstation. However, they cannot vote in-person."

Zaliha said members will be given a time limit to complete the voting process to prevent proxy voting. Candidates found guilty of proxy voting can be punished, she said.

She was unable to identify the name of the smartphone application maker but said that it was an international firm.

Her committee has yet to appoint an audit firm to scrutinise the election results - which was required during the 2018 elections because of complications arising from electronic voting.

The PKR leadership election for the 2022-2025 term will take place from May 13 to May 18. Nominations will take place sometime next month. - Mkini