PKR is to kick off its first-ever direct elections with division-level nominations beginning late this month, before voting at the division annual general meetings scheduled from Sept 17 to Oct 3.

The party secretary-general's circular stated that the 222 divisions will be required to submit nominations beginning Aug 27 to Sept 12.

anwar ibrahim pkr congress 021208 07 The nomination forms will be distributed from Friday. These will also be made available at the party's state offices and at its Petaling Jaya headquarters.

Alternatively, it can be downloaded off the party website.

PKR is the first major political party to implement direct voting for all division-level positions as well as for the supreme council, which includes top leadership posts such as the president and deputy president.

 

All members registered before June 27 - about 400,000 - are eligible to cast their votes for 18 division-level positions - the chairperson, deputy chairperson and vice-chairperson as well as 15 committee members.

azlan The members will also vote for 10 positions for the Women's wing and 20 positions for the Youth wing.  

Among the hot divisions to watch are vice-president Azmin Ali's Gombak, Khalid Ibrahim's Kuala Selangor and Dr Xavier Jayakumar's Kota Raja division - all of which are expected to be fiercely contested.  

Nominations must be completed at least 21 days before the division-level AGMs.  

At the AGMs, members will also be nominating candidates for the powerful party supreme council, which include the president, deputy president and four vice-presidents as well as 20 commitee members. 

Election of top leaders

Nominations for these top posts will close on Oct 10. To qualify, potential candidates must be nominated by at least two divisions.

From Oct 29 to Nov 21, delegates at the state level will meet to cast their votes for the top leadership.

Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the wife of PKR de facto chief Anwar Ibrahim, is the incumbent president and Syed Husin Ali is the current deputy president.  

pkr congress ceramah 291108 supporters The much-anticipated polls come after amendments made to the  constitution at the PKR national congress two years ago.

Other political parties currently only allow for a certain number of delegates to vote for its national leadership.  

According to PKR election administrator Radin Shamsulkamar, the results of the election at all stages will be revealed soon after the votes are cast.  

Among the first to begin nominations for the division-level elections are those in Kedah, Kelantan and Perak.  

The party’s 2010 National Congress has been slotted for Nov 26-28, when the new leaders will chart the course toward the next general election.