PKR vice-president Mustaffa Kamil Ayub has officially announced his decision to go for the deputy president’s post, joining a contest that has already seen bruising brawls between heavyweights Azmin Ali and Zaid Ibrahim.

NONE Mustaffa announced this today at the Sultan Sulaiman club in Kuala Lumpur, while being flanked by an entourage of 50 people, who are mostly supporters from his home state of Perak.

The PKR veteran said that his bid for the post was a  continuation of his struggle since the birth of the reformasi movement in 1998.

He is currently the party vice-president and Perak chief. Mustaffa was also a key leader in a Muslim youth movement known as Abim and a staunch supporter of PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Despite claims that he was among the influential ex-Abim leaders within PKR's ranks, Mustaffa said that he was going at it alone and won't be contesting as a team. 

Mustaffa, who is championing a "new brand of politics based on values", added that he is confident of his chances of winning despite coming in at the tail end of the nominations process.

"In the 2006 polls, I came in sixth on the nominations but received among the highest votes for vice president.

"Nominations are generally controlled by the division leaders, but members have their own way of deciding (which way to vote)," said Mustafa whose tag line is “Continuing the struggle”.

'Low profile underdog'

Claiming that he is an “underdog of low profile”, Mustaffa said that his own division of Pasir Salak had deposed him as division chief, but nominated him as a candidate for the deputy president post.

"I do not take this to heart, and accept their decision. Maybe they felt I should play a more prominent role at a national and international level,” he said.

NONE Mustaffa said he will not dispute the results, but alluded to the strange nature in which nominations for the the division deputy chief post were all made at the last minute.

"I also see it as a blessing in disguise allowing me to concentrate on the deputy president position and my role as party Perak chief.

"I am making this announcement because I am confident of winning based on my readings of the grassroots. I am taking calculated risks," he said.

All the same, the former political secretary to Muhyiddin Yassin added that in the event that he loses, "there is still a lot of room in the party to serve".

"We are all here as candidate of Keadilan, for ( de facto leader) Anwar Ibrahim and for (president) Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail," he said.

"If I lose, so what? I lost the contest for youth chief and after that I was appointed secretary-general," he added, breaking away from the guarded tone that dominated his press conference. 

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