The contest for the positions in Parti Keadilan Rakyat's (PKR) Youth wing turned out to be a lame affair with its top two leaders Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor and Faisal Sanusi returning unopposed.

The three vice-chief positions were also easily secured by incumbent Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin and newcomers S Manickavesagam and Sh. Shahidah. Others nominated for the posts had declined to contest.

Apart from the 20 executive councillor seats in the wing that will be contested among 40 candidates, Youth secretary SD Johari Yassin said the line-up is almost finalised.

While it was expected that Ezam would not face any challenge, there were strong indications from the grassroots that his deputy Faisal would face competition.

Apart from Faisal, who secured 72 nominations, the others in the race were Shamsul (7), Zaki Yamani (4) and SD Johari (2).

Ezam's influence?

It is believed that the rest had declined to challenge the incumbent after Ezam openly stated his displeasure for a contest for the number two spot.

"A lot of us respect Ezam and his view counts. To contest would mean going against him and you don't want to be seen as opposing him.

"I don't think any Youth leader with ambition would be stupid enough to take that risk," said a party leader when contacted.

Commenting on this, Ezam said he had no qualms in openly admitting that Faisal was the best person for the job.

"I have said this time and again. I believe that Faisal should not be challenged simply because I think that the Youth need to honour the spirit of the merger ," he said when contacted.

On Aug 3, last year Parti Keadilan Nasional and Parti Rakyat Malaysia merged to become Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

Prior to the merger, Faisal was the head of the PRM Youth wing.

No directives or pressure

However, Ezam denied giving any directives to or applying pressure on those nominated.

"They asked for my view and I told them. I never said: Don't contest! The final decision was theirs to make not mine," he explained.

He also dismissed views that his action (in openly supporting Faisal) had impeded the process of democracy in the party.

"Like I said, I had merely stated my view, that's all. Democracy allows me to do this. If the Youth leader is not allowed to speak his mind, I don't think that is democratic. I of all people would not stop the process of democracy," he said.

Shamsul, who was among those nominated, also denied that Ezam had pressured him or influenced his decision to back away.

"Yes, I did plan to contest after getting positive feedbacks from the grassroots. Even Faisal himself had encouraged me to contest. I was still determined even after Ezam gave his opinion.

"But then I realised that there is a bigger agenda which is to build a stronger team in order to build an effective launching pad for (ex-deputy premier) Anwar Ibrahim when he returns to politics. And that's why I chose to decline," he said.