In the first weekend of voting after former PKR Federal Territories chairperson Zaid Ibrahim withdrew from the race for party number two, there was no evidence of ‘protest votes’ by party members.

NONE Election committee secretary Radin Shamsulkamar Radin Shamsudin ( left ) said that there was no surge in spoilt votes in last weekend’s voting.

“We did expect that there would be a surge in spoilt votes but surprisingly, there were none. The turnout was also consistent with the period when Zaid was still in the race, in comparison to when he had left,” he told Malaysiakini .

He also confirmed that Zaid’s name was removed from the ballot papers in last weekend’s voting after the maverick politician had announced on his blog early last Monday morning that he will be dropping out from the race.

However, Radin said that there were "one or two funny instances" when members tried to be cheeky with the ballot papers.

"There were a few voters who tried to draw their own box, writing Zaid’s name on it and drawing a smiley face where the candidate’s picture is supposed to be," he said.

‘Zaid’s departure won’t affect the party’

In the meantime, party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that Zaid’s departure from PKR will not be the downfall of the party.

“In 1999, we had 789,000 votes. In 2004, we had about 400,000 votes and then in 2008 we had 1.5 million votes.

“Our track record has shown the beauty of PKR. So now, Zaid leaving the party will not affect the party too much,” he said, adding that the party has yet to receive his resignation letter.

azlan The Machang MP also said that the party has been on the right track all along.

“We are now one of the biggest opposition parties in the country. We pioneered Malaysian politics with direct elections. Along the way, Zaid chose to be with us and now he wants to go, so we wish him the best of luck and we will respect his wishes,” he said in a press conference at the party headquarters this afternoon.

He also said that the biggest issue with Zaid is “inconsistency”.

“When he announced his withdrawal from contesting, in his last sentence he said that he will continue with the party’s struggle.

“And now, it’s ‘I’m surprised the party has yet to sack me’. So it’s up to you to decide how you want to see it,” said Saifuddin.

Zaid has announced that he will be quitting the party, but has yet to send in an official resignation letter. However, he said that he will “clarifying” all matters on Friday.