Following Dr Chandra Muzaffar's decision not to re-contest at the upcoming Keadilan elections, party treasurer Abdul Rahman is tipped to be the 'favourite' for the deputy president post, said another contender today.

Supreme council member Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that almost half of the party divisions had submitted their nominations before Chandra announced his decision.

"Hence, Dr Chandra still tops the nomination," he told malaysiakini .

"Since Dr Chandra's withdrawal was accepted by the party, the second-place candidate, Abdul Rahman, who is also the party's Johor chief, becomes the 'star'," he added

Saifuddin also conceded that Chandra's withdrawal had heated up the contest for the deputy president post.

Besides Saifuddin and Abdul Rahman, the others in the running are supreme council member Dr Muhammad Nur Manuty and Youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor.

President unopposed

The party president post will be retained unopposed by Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

While a source said that for the post of Youth chief, nominees Mustaffa Kamil Ayub and Saifuddin will make way for Ezam to be re-elected. Ezam and four other party leaders are presently undergoing a two-year detention under the Internal Security Act at the Kamunting detention centre.

However, the deputy Youth chief post will see a straight fight between Mustaffa and Saifuddin with the former leading in the nomination.

The women's wing chief Fuziah Salleh is expected to face an intense challenge from her deputy Animah Ferrar, the wing's information chief Zainon Jaafar - who is leading the nominations - and Sarawak chief Hafsah Harun.

Umno rumours

Meanwhile, Saifuddin today also refuted rumours of him rejoining Umno. The former Umno Youth leader said the source of the rumour is yet to be determined.

"It may come internally from the party or externally, I do not know. It may also be part of some people's election tactics," he said.

Another leader, information chief Ruslan Kasim who was also rumoured to rejoin Umno, refuted the claim as well.

"The rumour is meant to confuse and hamper the spirit of party members, there is no issue at all," he said.

Recently, certain quarters in Keadilan have also accused the Malaysian Islamic Youth Association (Abim), who are allegedly competing with ex-Umno members for party posts, of influencing the results of the party elections.

But Saifuddin said it was a mere coincidence that the candidates are ex-Abim and ex-Umno members.

"Too much attention is focused on ex-Abim versus ex-Umno, while those who are not under this two categories are not mentioned," he said.

Political gimmick

While Ruslan said the competition within different groups such as (Abim), Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM), and non-governmental organisations, is also the strength of Keadilan.

"Playing on the ex-Abim and ex-Umno connection is a political gimmick by the enemy of Keadilan," he said.

Keadilan is scheduled to hold its first party elections from Nov 9 to 11. The party was set up in 1999 after the sacking of jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

The deadline for the divisions to submit their nominations is this Saturday. The party is expected to announce the list of candidates on Sunday.