Amanah Wanita chief Siti Mariah Mahmud (above) narrowly made the cut in the party's Puchong divisional election.

A number of top leaders have suffered defeat at the divisional level in the party's maiden election.

Mariah was at the tail end of the 15 elected candidates, according to a party source.

The source said Mariah's support had suffered after her backers split into two groups, turning the field into a three-team contest.

"Generally, there appeared to be three sets of candidates," he said.

According to Amanah's electoral system, the top 15 candidates with the most votes will be elected into the leadership.

Following this, the 15 elected candidates will then decide among themselves how to fill the respective positions, including the position of division chief, deputy and others.

Meanwhile, incumbent Selangor Amanah Youth chief Abbas Azmi failed to make the cut into the top 15 at the Puchong division level.

There had been complaints about delegates voting according to a list (cai) instead of individual candidates.

However, those who have formed teams in the election have defended the list, stating that the practice is transparent, as the list is put out publicly for delegates to evaluate.

They said this was in contrast to their former party PAS where certain leaders came out with a "secret list" for delegates to vote.

However, the team-based voting has led to the defeat of prominent leaders at the divisional level, such as former Perak menteri besar Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin and Amanah Youth deputy chief Faiz Fadzil.

In the Puchong Amanah election, the division's incumbent assistant secretary Mohd Fauzi Jaafar garnered the most votes.

"Looks like Puchong folks prefer someone from Puchong to be their leader," said the source.

Siti Mariah was formerly the Kota Raja MP and is now the Seri Serdang assemblyperson.