Former Jelutong PKR leader Tan Tee Beng has highlighted several irregularities which may render the division polls on Sept 26 the “joke of the town”.

tan tee beng pc 030110 02 Tan (left) , the Nibong Tebal MP who left PKR to turn Independent last year, alleged that there are not only phantom members in Jelutong but that a “phantom candidate” is vying to become division chairperson.

Asked to identify the candidate, Tan pointed squarely at supreme council member Cheah Kah Peng.

He said Cheah, a well known lawyer in Penang, is “division-less” and appears to be “floating from division to division”.

“He may be a supreme council member but he is division-less and his name is not even in the Jelutong division membership list,” he alleged.

Cheah, 44, faces a challenge from Shahul Hameed, 48 - who is purportedly supported by party supremo Anwar Ibrahim - and Ong Beng Toe, 55, who is perceived to be Tan’s former ally.

cheah kah peng lim eng nam rebutal on aminah abdullah allegation penanti by election pc 260509 02 When contacted, Cheah (right) maintained that he remains a member of the Jelutong division and denied that he is “division-less”.

“My name is in the Jelutong latest list of June 28, which will be used for the polls. The members there are all eligible to vote as well,” he said.

“I have not transferred my membership to any other division. I was originally the chairperson of the Bukit Bendera division between 1999 and 2004 before I was asked by the party to head the Jelutong division.

“At that time, there were several issues which needed attention and I was assigned to oversee the situation over there.”

‘Chaotic election process’

Tan said he is also suspicious of the membership list as his name is still in it, while the names of his supporters “have been transferred out”.

“Hey, I could even contest for a post in the division,” he said tongue-in-cheek.

He claimed to have received complaints about membership problems from his former supporters who are members of the division.

Based on information received, he said several members had submitted their resignation from the party but their names are still in the list.

Tan noted that such irregularities are peculiar when the membership list should have been cleaned up before submission to the Registrar of Societies on yearly basis.    

“The whole pkr elections 2010 election process is very chaotic. I don’t want to blame anyone for this, it could either be the problem of the system or man-made,” he said.  

 

“But I feel if PKR is not ready for this kind of election process. They will be in deep trouble at the end of it. I cannot imagine how they are they going to resolve their internal matters. They are already not good in human management.”

The 2,114-member division will cast its votes in Batu Lanchang, But it is uncertain how the election will proceed as these allegations are believed to have been brought up with the top leaders.