Among the notable names who lost in the divisional polls was natural resources and environmental sustainability minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, who was defeated by Afdlin Shauki in Setiawangsa.
Others include deputy unity minister and PKR vice-president K Saraswathy in Bukit Bintang, Wangsa Maju MP Zahir Hassan, Batu MP P Prabakaran, Balik Pulau MP Bakhtiar Wan Chik, and Penang executive councillor Fahmi Zainol in Jelutong.
Other heavyweights who suffered defeats included:
- Akmal Nasir in Johor Bahru, Johor;
- Adam Adli in Hang Tuah Jaya, Melaka;
- Rodziah Ismail in Shah Alam, Selangor;
- Bakhtiar Wan Chik in Balik Pulau, Penang;
- Rizal Jamin in Lipis, Pahang;
- R Yuneswaran in Tebrau, Johor; and
- P Prabakaran in Batu, Kuala Lumpur.
- Rodziah Ismail In Shah Alam , Selangor
- Lee Chean Chung , Petaling Jaya , Selangor
- Chua Wei Kiat , Selayang , Selangor
- Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid , Kapar , Selangor
Among them were two deputy ministers, a former deputy minister, a state PKR chairman, several MPs, and incumbent divisional leaders.
MANY thought Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Datuk Seri Azmin Ali would remain enemies until their dying days but they have been proven wrong.
The cordial encounter between the two men at the state funeral of Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was the talk of PKR. Party members scrutinised the warm handshake, the way Anwar rested his hand on Azmin’s shoulder and, of course, the cheek-to-cheek air kisses they exchanged.
The pair have such an intertwined history but the “reunion” is unlikely to lead to anything major, at least, not in the near future.
Or as the Prime Minister’s chief political secretary Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin put it: “That was my boss’ PR at its highest level”.
Shamsul was alluding to Anwar’s inborn ability to navigate any kind of social situation.
However, the chatter in PKR has since moved on to the “anti-Rafizi wave” that seems to be rippling through the divisional or cabang elections in the party.
Leader after leader aligned to deputy president Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli has fallen. They include sitting MPs and assemblymen several of whom are appealing the results in their respective division.
Perhaps the most interesting outcome was in Shah Alam where Kota Anggerik assemblyman Najwan Halimi beat incumbent division chief Rodziah Ismail, taking 1,213 votes against 899 votes by Rodziah. More intriguing was that almost all of Rodziah’s line-up won while she lost.
A party insider, who has been closely watching the party polls, said Rodziah’s dilemma reminded him of “a cicak (lizard) wriggling without a head”.
Rodziah, who is Ampang MP and an ally of Rafizi, is appealing the result.
Meanwhile, Najwan’s win has positioned the 40-year-old Selangor exco member as someone to watch in the coming years.
Najwan’s victory is no fluke because he went down to every branch in the Shah Alam division to meet party members whereas Rodziah was more focused on her campaign for the national Wanita chief post.
Are there hidden hands or a mastermind behind what is happening?
“It’s the rise of the new generation. The party landscape has changed after 25 years, a whole new generation is coming up. Members can see who can perform and deliver. This is what the result is about,” said Shamsul who is the new division chief of Hang Tuah Jaya in Melaka, where he crushed the incumbent Rafee Ibrahim by 1,955 to 736 votes.
Not all the big names who fell were aligned to Rafizi. An assemblyman and well-known warlord in Perak lost to a little-known challenger. The reason, according to some, was because he had allegedly “asked a developer for a bungalow” and the developer had complained to the party president.
However, the fall of so many leaders aligned to Rafizi does seem a little too coincidental.
“You might say that somebody is tapping the keyboard. It’s as if some sort of resetting is going on.
“At the same time, it could also be a result of the ground moving towards the Prime Minister, to let him have a team he feels comfortable with,” said the above party insider.
It is no secret that Rafizi has not measured up to expectations both as deputy president or the Economic Minister. A deputy president is expected to go around to organise the party, to troubleshoot and mobilise members but Rafizi has not exactly played that role.
Once seen as a “wonder boy” with a solution for every issue, Rafizi seems more equipped at theory than implementation and he has been eclipsed by Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz on the economic front.
Rafizi’s problem is that he does not have the trust of the president. Very few presidents are totally compatible with their deputies and, in this case, the rumour is that Rafizi had contemplated going for the presidency in the last party election. It did not materialise but it is said to have created a trust issue between the top two.
The above party insider said the changes taking place in the division elections has been perceived as clearing the way for a contest for the deputy president post.
“As of now, a contest for the No 2 post is not off the table,” said the insider.
The defeat of leaders aligned to Rafizi has put him at a disadvantage because the new division chiefs will be the ones deciding on delegates to attend the national congress and to vote for the new central leadership committee.
Anwar can literally walk on water at the moment. There is no one else in PKR who can match his charisma or power of incumbency.
However, the coming term will be his final one as PKR president, hence, the urgency to have a deputy president whom he trusts and to pass the baton.
Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amiruddin Shari, a potential contender, has indicated that he prefers to defend his vice-president seat.
Home Minister and Senator Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution is said to be willing but needs the blessing from Anwar. Saifuddin’s political career is on the line because his senatorship will expire at the end of this year and he needs the post to remain relevant.
Amiruddin is not a confrontational type and he is unsure that he can unseat Rafizi. He is also more than willing to make way for Saifuddin whom he addresses as “Abang Din”.
Whoever wins the deputy president post will have a fighting chance to be the next president when Anwar completes his tenure in three years time. But that does not mean the person will become the prime minister.
That top job will remain Anwar’s because there is nothing in the national constitution to say that the prime minister has to be a party president.
Anyway, three years is like an eternity in politics and who can predict what will happen?
“Politics is sometimes like a box of chocolates, full of surprises and uncertainties,” said the above insider, taking a leaf from the Forrest Gump movie.
The picture will be clearer in the coming weeks but all roads lead to Anwar and he will have the final say.
Source : The Star
PKR polls: Ordinary party member defeats two MPs for Tebrau chief post
An ordinary PKR member caused a major upset in the contest for the Tebrau branch chief post when he defeated the incumbent and another member of parliament vying for the position.
M. Prakash secured 690 votes, beating incumbent Tebrau PKR chief Jimmy Puah Wee Tsee and Segamat MP R. Yuneswaran.
Jimmy Puah, who is also the MP for Tebrau, received 560 votes, while Yuneswaran garnered 589 votes.
Source : NST
Well-known incumbents swept out in PKR divisional polls
Analysts had said that the defeats of high-profile figures signalled grassroots dissatisfaction with their performance in Putrajaya and as elected representatives.
Akmal Nasir, a deputy minister and a two-term MP, failed to defend his post as Johor Bahru chief, a position he had held since 2014. Akmal is also the party’s strategic director and a former head of the youth wing.
Another deputy minister, Adam Adli, suffered a heavy defeat when vying for the post of Hang Tuah Jaya PKR deputy chief. Adam, the current PKR Youth chief and Hang Tuah Jaya MP, received only 791 votes while his rival Zamzizul Nordin won convincingly with 1,905 votes
In Shah Alam, there were calls for the remaining division elections to be postponed until alleged “irregularities” were resolved, after Ampang MP Rodziah Ismail lost the leadership of the division to Kota Anggerik assemblyman Najwan Halimi.
Rodziah, a former Selangor executive councillor, raised suspicions as she was the only candidate in her team that lost. An official complaint has been lodged against her for “undermining” the credibility of the PKR election committee.
In Penang, former deputy minister Bakhtiar Wan Chik was ousted as Balik Pulau PKR chief by his former deputy, Tuah Ismail.
Bakhtiar is in his second term as Balik Pulau MP, while Tuah is a former assemblyman for Pulau Betong, which is part of the Balik Pulau parliamentary constituency.
In Tebrau, Johor, two MPs suffered defeats, including the incumbent chairman, Segamat MP R Yuneswaran, who failed to defend his post in a three-cornered race. Tebrau MP and former state executive councillor Jimmy Puah meanwhile came up last.
In Kapar, former MP Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid was unseated in a four-way race, securing only 618 votes.
In Batu, P Prabakaran, the divisional chairman and second-term MP, was defeated by lawyer and former student activist Asheeq Ali. Prabakaran was first elected to lead the division in 2022 when he defeated former PKR vice-president Tian Chua.
Pahang PKR chief Rizal Jamin lost his post as Lipis division chief by nearly 100 votes.
Defeats for big-name challengers
PKR vice-president and deputy minister K Saraswathy was among several bigwigs who failed to become divisional chiefs. Saraswathy was second-best in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, and failed to oust Anwar Pawan Chik.
In Penang, state executive councillor Fahmi Zainol and PKR deputy secretary-general Zakwan Mustafa Kamal failed to upset the incumbent chairmen of the Jelutong and Tasek Gelugor divisions.
Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung failed to unseat division chief Hee Loy Sian, while Rawang assemblyman Chua Wei Kiat lost the race for the Selayang PKR chief’s post.
Lee is also the PKR communications director, while Chua is the party’s deputy information chief. Both have appealed against the results.
Fuziah confirms PKR leadership council meeting
PKR secretary-general Fuziah Salleh has confirmed that the party’s central leadership council will convene a meeting on Wednesday, but denies it is an emergency meeting, as claimed in a report.
She told FMT that the meeting was called with due notice given, following a request by some council members.
“I called for the meeting as requested, with the agreement of the party president. However, it is not an emergency meeting as claimed, because the requisite seven-day notice was duly given.
“The only difference is that the meeting was called at the request of some council members and is not a scheduled monthly meeting,” she added.
However, she did not divulge any further information on the agenda for the meeting.
Earlier, Malaysiakini reported that an “urgent” PKR central leadership council meeting will be convened on Wednesday to discuss alleged irregularities during the party’s ongoing divisional elections.
The news portal reported that the meeting was called at the request of more than 20 council members, which is above the one-third requirement as per the party’s constitution.
Last week, PKR’s Ampang MP Rodziah Ismail urged the party to postpone the remainder of its division elections scheduled for this weekend following alleged “irregularities” in the polling process.
Rodziah said she discovered some suspicious incidents in the Selangor PKR division elections last weekend, including the alleged failure to record votes for the division chief’s post in Shah Alam.
Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung and Rawang assemblyman Chua Wei Kiat also said they will appeal after losing the race for the position of division chiefs.
Lee said he had received numerous calls and messages questioning the transparency of the polling process and confirmed that his team would be submitting an official appeal to the party’s election committee.
PKR vice-president Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad yesterday said he will file an appeal after failing to defend his Setiawangsa division chief post.
Nik Nazmi, a federal minister and two-term Setiawangsa MP, said he will use the proper channels to raise several “issues” that surfaced during the divisional election.
Source : FMT
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