PKR polls: Fracas, manipulation and irregularities continue
By FMT Staff
KELANA JAYA: Controversies continued to dog PKR divisional delegates meetings in three states yesterday with claims of voting manipulation, fracas among opposing supporters and foul play in favour of contenders from the party leadership’s menu list.
In Selangor, the Kelana Jaya PKR division delegates meeting had all the drama – alleged voting discrepancies, a fracas, claims of missing names from the voters’ list and recount after recount in what appears to be a deeply divided division.
In the end, the division’s top post was won by MTUC chairman Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud, an Azmin Ali loyalist. He very narrowly defeated challenger Abd Razak Mohamed Jalil.
However his victory came only after four recounts. Only about 1,000 members of the total 6,000 registered turned out for the meeting.
But not everyone who came were allowed to vote.
A ploy in place?
About 258 members – all aligned to Abd Razak – were not allowed to vote as their names were not listed in the voting list, prompting them to claim foul play, especially when they had registered as members in the division way before the June deadline.
“Is this a ploy to undermine our candidate from winning? Who is responsible for this? Surely the party headquarters would know that we are registered as members here. Why aren’t we then allowed to vote,” asked one of them.
“Is the party HQ working closely with Syed Shahir’s camp to ensure his victory?” he asked.
The member’s frustration, while unsubstantiated, does however carry some weight in light of the presence of the party’s communications director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad in Syed Shahir’s camp.
Nik Nazmi, the Seri Setia state rep who fully supports Azmin, won the deputy’s post in the division by defeating Dr S Vigneswaran by 15 votes.
Abd Razak said that he may challenge the results, citing that there were discrepancies during the polls.
“I will consult my supporters before making any decision on what to do next,”he said.
Before the division polls, Abd Razak’s team was seen as one that could stem the influence of Azmin in the division. They were also expected to throw their support behind Zaid Ibrahim. Both Azmin and Zaid are facing off for the deputy president’s post in the coming party polls.
The polling at this division also saw the presence of the police who had to intervene when a commotion broke out during the meeting at the Subang Jaya Municipal Council Hall in Section 15.
FMT also learnt that a police report had been lodged on the altercation.
