PKR members vote-of-no-confidence against Anwar Ibrahim
He said whether it is voter fatigue or a loss of confidence in party supremo Anwar Ibrahim and the feuding leaders, PKR should take this as a warning on how it would perform in GE15.
(FMT) – The PKR national elections saw a dismal response with only 12.26% of its 1.1 million members coming out to vote, and party insiders have sounded the alarm that it could be headed for disaster in the next general election (GE15).
According to the document showing the final tally sighted by FMT, only 137,127 of the 1,118,423 eligible members came out to vote physically or via online. This does not include the eight divisions where fresh elections have been called after there were glitches over the weekend polls.
The tally showed good online voting response with 70,200 of the 76,932 who registered as online voters picking their choices.
However, the turnout for physical voting was very poor with only 59,056 of the 1.04 million eligible voters casting their ballots.
The turnout was the highest in Selangor divisions where PKR is leading the government, but even then, the average for the state was 13% of those eligible to vote.
The highest was in Shah Alam and Sabak Bernam in Selangor, where about 24% of the voters cast their ballots both physically and via online. The lowest was in Saratok, Sarawak, where a mere 0.27%, or 4,405 voters cast their ballots.
“This could be one of the lowest turnouts in PKR’s election history,” a party insider told FMT. “The leaders should take it as a warning that interest in the party by even its own members is waning. No prizes for guessing what the public perception is.”
He said whether it is voter fatigue or a loss of confidence in party supremo Anwar Ibrahim and the feuding leaders, PKR should take this as a warning on how it would perform in GE15.
One candidate in Perak said some campaign styles which involved “vote buying” for a party election has also put many members off, making them question the integrity of the party which wants to reform Malaysia.
“The grassroots are shaken by the very poor turnout and are worried they may be wiped out in GE15,” he said.
PKR election committee chief Dr Zaliha Mustafa confirmed the low turnout, saying it could be related to the many uncontested posts at all levels in all wings.
“As for the top posts, many members did not vote as they perceived it to be a friendly affair, especially for the post of deputy president,” she said.
Vice-president Tian Chua said the numbers were “not too bad”.
“We lost some key grassroots leaders, which might have contributed to lower turnout in some divisions due to lack of competition,” he told FMT.
“I think some 20% or more division heads also won without contest. Furthermore, we were conducting party elections with a short notice, and also during the festive season.”
