There were hardly any surprises in the  Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Wanita and Youth wing election results for the 2010-2013 term announced at the annual congress of the party’s two wings in Petraling Jaya today.

As expected, the incumbent Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin and Youth head Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin retained their seats.

NONE Zuraida ( left in pic ) defeated her challengers, Perlis PKR Wanita chief Dr Suraya Sudin and party Central Leadership Council (CLC) member Animah Ferrar, while Shamsul Iskandar edged Badrul Hisham Shaharin, better known as Chegubard, and also a CLC member.

However, the new Youth deputy chief is former vice-head Khairul Anuar Ahmad Zainuddin who beat Chang Lih Kang, the wing's former assistant secretary. The incumbent No 2 Mohd Fariz Musa did not contest as he is now over 40.   

NONE Selangor state executive council member Rodziah Ismail ( right ) retained her Wanita deputy chief post after defeating her challenger, Asmah Abd Kadir.

State assemblyman for Rawang, Gan Pei Nei, was elected to one of the Wanita vice-chief posts. The other two elected were Selangor state assembly Deputy Speaker Haniza Talha and Noor Sham Abu Samah who retained her seat for the new term.

The three Youth vice-chief posts were filled by new faces - Azmizam Zaman Huri, Erveana Ansari Ali and Chan Ming Kai - who were not Youth central committee members before this.

It was a rather quiet affair as only 439 of the 724 Youth delegates and 333 out of the 555 Wanita delegates attended the congress today.

PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told reporters that the leadership of the two wings should take note of the poor turnout as the annual congress was an important avenue for enhancing the party’s capabilities and leadership.

The PKR Seventh Annual Congress will continue tomorrow with party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail expected to deliver the policy speech.

- Bernama