PKR polls: Azmin and camp come out tops
(The Star) – After months of internal party election that was dogged by controversy, PKR’s Azmin Ali has sealed his victory as the party’s deputy president in the contest that was finally concluded last Sunday.
According to unofficial results, the Gombak parliamentarian clinched 22,557 votes against secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who garnered 10,742 votes in what used to be a three-cornered fight between Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.
The Selangor Mentri Besar was no longer qualified to contest following his expulsion from the party last Saturday for his refusal to vacate the state government office.
Azmin’s running mates also appeared to have strong backing from the grassroots as both Amirudin Shari and Zuraida Kamaruddin were elected as Youth and Women wing chiefs respectively.
Batu Caves assemblyman Amirudin, who was in a neck-and-neck race with Sri Setia assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, won with a razor-thin majority of 40 votes.
Amirudin, who is also the Selangor PKR secretary, garnered 4,247 votes against Nik Nazmi’s 4,207 votes.
Former PKR Youth vice-chief Nazree Yunus, who was aligned to Khalid, only managed to bag 2,195 votes.
Zuraida, who is also Ampang MP, managed to retain her position as the Women chief with 9,382 votes against Batu Tiga assemblyman Rodziah Ismail, who received 8,638 votes.
PKR’s rising star Rafizi Ramli, who previously fell behind in the vice-president contest is back, grabbing the fourth and final spot.
The party’s chief strategist won 18,885 votes and is behind Bukit Katil MP Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin who bagged 19,828 votes.
Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar had no problem retaining her top spot in the vice-presidency race since the start of the election and secured her victory with 28,792 votes.
Batu MP Tian Chua also managed to defend his vice-presidency with 21,421 votes.
The official results are expected to be announced on Aug 22, during the party’s three-day congress that will be held in Stadium Melawati, Shah Alam.
