PKR POLLS | PKR deputy president contenders Azmin Ali and Rafizi Ramli may be neck-and-neck in the party elections in Penang but it is the former's lieutenants that have dominated at the ballot boxes.
Following the conclusion of the polls for Penang yesterday, Azmin had a slight edge with 3,326 votes to Rafizi's 3,150 votes.
However, the contest for other key positions was not as competitive, with PKR members in Penang choosing Azmin's allies for three out of the four vice-president positions as well as the chief and deputy chief for both the youth and women's wings.
Nurul Izzah Anwar commanded the most votes in the vice-presidency contest, garnering a whopping 4,039 votes, far outstripping her opponents.
Nurul has been seen as part of Rafizi's camp but the incumbent PKR vice-president has been reluctant to publicly declare this.
The next three candidates who received the most votes were all Azmin allies, namely, Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin (2,646 votes), former Batu MP Tian Chua (2,577 votes) and Kuala Langat MP Xavier Jeyakumar (2,316 votes).
Even the fifth-place candidate, Bukit Katil MP Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin with 1,533 votes, is also an Azmin ally.
The top four candidates who garnered the most votes nationwide will fill the four vice-president positions.
At present, the three other vice presidential candidates who are part of Rafizi's team are Selayang MP William Leong (6th place; 1,509 votes) and Sungai Petani MP Johari Abdul (7th place; 1,340 votes) and Sungai Siput MP S Kesavan (8th place; 1,127 votes).
Similarly, for the PKR Youth chief contest, Afif Bahardin, an Azmin ally, is ahead with 802 votes to Akmal Nasir, a Rafizi ally, at 575 votes. A third candidate, Najwan Halimi, has garnered 163 votes.
For the deputy youth chief contest, Azmin's political secretary Hilman Idham dominated the race with 842 votes to Rafizi's ally Raymond Anuar who received 352 votes and a third candidate, Naquiddin Nazrin, who received 175 votes.
For the Wanita PKR chief contest, Haniza Talha, Zuraida's chosen successor, is leading with 1,324 votes to Rafizi's ally and Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh's 882 votes.
Likewise, Darolyah Alwi is leading with 1,328 votes against Rafizi's ally Rodziah Ismail, who garnered 678 votes.
The figures were confirmed by the PKR election committee chairperson Rashid Din.
Party members in Kedah, like Penang, also went to the polls yesterday but the state's results were invalidated due to technical difficulties with the electronic voting system.
Voting in other states has also been postponed to a later date pending rectification.
Penang makes up less than 10 percent of the total PKR membership. While Azmin's team is off to a strong start, the battle is only just beginning.
Unlike in Penang, several other states have seen a huge surge in new PKR members who could tilt the balance of the party election.
Between June 6 to June 25, the PKR membership in Penang only increased by 16.12 percent.
In contrast, the PKR membership in Malacca surged by a whopping 120.4 percent, while in Negeri Sembilan and Johor, they increased by 110 percent and 81.5 percent respectively.
Even in populous states such as Selangor, the membership surged by 35.33 percent from 177,834 members to 240,671 members in the same period.
