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Report: New members can now contest in PKR polls
Published:  Aug 1, 2018 2:50 PM
Updated: 8:27 AM

New PKR members will now be eligible to contest in the upcoming party elections provided they receive approval from president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

According to The Malaysian Insight, Wan Azizah had sent a letter to all members yesterday stipulating this caveat.  

“There are too many requests this time. So, the applications must reach me latest by noon, Aug 1,” she was quoted as saying in the letter.

This was reportedly confirmed by PKR election committee chairperson Rashid Din.

“It allows anyone to send in an application. This is not the first time a leeway like this is given,” he told the news portal.

This would allow members who have been in the party for less than a year to contest in the polls, set to take place from Sept 14 to Oct 7. Nominations begin this Sunday.

PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail previously said that some 300,000 people had joined the party since the May 9 general election, which saw a Pakatan Harapan victory.

This has resulted in the party's total member base ballooning to more than 800,000 people.

'Sinister' plan?

Wan Azizah’s letter follows complaints from several Kelantan PKR members that ineligible candidates were among those aiming for top party posts, as reported by Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia earlier this week.

“There are candidates who have not been in the party for more than 12 months, but claim to have received acceptance letters from the president’s office. This makes it seem that there are sinister plans happening within the secretary-general’s office.

“Has this been discussed with the political bureau? As grassroots members we feel that there are efforts to sabotage the party elections,” PKR member Mohamad Azlan Hamid was reported as saying.

According to Azlan, one such candidate was the political secretary to a current minister.

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