KUALA LUMPUR: The elections for various posts in PKR are to be held in stages from Saturday to Oct 28, and members in Kedah and Penang are the first to go to the polls, doing so this Saturday.
A total of 105,056 PKR members in Kedah and Penang are eligible to vote, with 49,924 from 15 divisions voting in Kedah and 55,132 from 13 divisions voting in Penang.
The members will elect representatives to the Central Leadership Council, namely the deputy president, vice-presidents, AMK (Youth) chief, Wanita chief and members of the council.
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been returned unopposed as president.
Also, at these elections, the members will pick their representatives at the divisional level, namely the chief, deputy chief, vice-chiefs and 15 divisional committee members as well as the divisional Youth chief,
Youth deputy chief, Youth vice-chiefs and 15 Youth committee members.
The members will also elect the divisional Wanita chief, Wanita deputy chief, Wanita vice-chiefs and seven Wanita committee members.
Central Elections Committee secretary Ismail Yusof said the polling would begin at 9am and end at 5pm.
“The results are expected to be known as early as 6 pm and will be displayed at the polling stations at each division.
“Members must make sure that they bring along their identity cards and have paid their membership fees to be eligible to vote.
“Those who have not paid their membership fees can do so at the polling stations,” he said when contacted by Bernama.
A total of 800,000 PKR members around the country are eligible to vote in the elections.
The elections in Perlis and Perak will take place on Sept 23; Negeri Sembilan and Melaka, Sept 29; Johor, Sept 30; Kelantan and Terengganu, Oct 5; Pahang, Oct 6; Federal Territories, Oct 7; Selangor, Oct 13, 14 and 21; Sarawak, Oct 20 and 21 and Sabah, Oct 27 and 28.
The contest for the post of deputy president is a straight fight between Gombak MP and Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and former Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli.
Twelve candidates, including four incumbents, are vying for the four posts of vice-president.
Three vice-presidents will be appointed.
The current vice-presidents are Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar; Hang Tuah Jaya MP Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin; Kuala Langat MP Dr A Xavier Jeyakumar and former Batu MP Tian Chua.
The new faces contesting the posts are Selayang MP William Leong Jee Keen; Puchong Division member Michael Tamil; Sungai Petani MP Datuk Johari Abdul; Sungai Siput MP S Kesavan; Padang Serai Division member Prof Datuk Dr G Balasubramaniam and Ampang MP Zuraida Kamarudin.
A total of 86 candidates are vying for the 20 posts as members of the Central Leadership Council.
The post of PKR Wanita chief is being contested by Kuantan MP Dr Fuziah Salleh and Lembah Jaya assemblyman Haniza Mohamed Talha.
The contest for the post of Youth chief is a three-cornered fight among Johor Bharu MP Akmal Nasir; Kota Anggerik assemblyman Mohd Najwan Halimi and Seberang Jaya assemblyman Dr Afif Bahardin.
The party elections are seeing history in the making as the system of electronic voting or e-voting is being used for the first time and on the concept of ‘one member, one vote’. — Bernama