Keadilan's first election will see a straight fight between the party's Abim faction (Islamic Youth Movement) and its rival faction in all posts.

The keenly contested deputy leader post will see a direct contest between Keadilan supreme council member and the movement's former president Dr Muhammad Nur Manuty against party treasurer Abdul Rahman Othman.

A number of potential candidates, who were nominated by the grassroots for the party's number two, are expected to give way to enable a straight fight between the two leaders.

A party source told malaysiakini that a potential deputy president candidate, Youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, had announced - through Shah Alam division deputy chief Raja Kamaruddin - his refusal to accept the nomination for the post.

Ezam, who is currently serving a two-year detention under the Internal Security Act in the Kamunting detention centre, is Shah Alam division chief.

"Ezam has only accepted the nomination for Youth chief, and he has given his support to Abdul Rahman for the deputy president post," the source quoted Raja as saying during last night's Shah Alam division meeting.

The source also added that Ezam will be returned unopposed in his Youth post.

According to the source, Hulu Kelang state representative Azmin Ali has also refused the nomination for the deputy president post.

Another potential candidate, supreme council member Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, is expected to make an announcement very soon to decline nomination for the key post.

The deputy president post fell vacant when incumbent Dr Chandra Muzaffar said he would not seek re-election for the post.

While Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail - who is consider the party's symbol of unity - will continue to lead the party, an intense fight between Muhammad and Abdul Rahman for the powerful deputy post is expected.

"The number of nominations notched by both leaders is very close, however it is believed that the earlier nomination given to Chandra will swing to Abdul Rahman in the election," said the source.

Clear division in vice-president posts

For the vice-president posts, the nomination also see a clear division between the Abim and non-Abim candidates.

It is anticipated that the non-Abim faction will pull out supreme council member Saari Sungip, MP for Kemaman Abdul Rahman Yusof and Perak state chief Khalil Shah Jamaluddin from the contest.

This will leave their candidates - Chua Tian Chang (alias Tian Chua), Azmin and supreme council member Xavier Jayakumar - to directly contest against the candidates from the Abim faction for the three posts.

Tian Chua is also serving a two-year detention under the ISA in Kamunting.

The Abim faction is fielding Sheikh Azmi Ahmad, Muhammad Nur, secretary-general Anuar Tahir and information chief Ruslan Kasim.

"It is believed that one of them may pull out from the candidacy so as not to divide the votes," said the source.

The only candidate who does not belong to either camp is N Gobalakrishnan.

According to a reliable source, the latest head count showed that the leading candidates for the vice-presidents are Chua, Sheikh Azmi, Azmin, Anuar Tahir, and followed with Ruslan.

However, when contacted by malaysiakini , Ruslan refuted the suggestion that he is part of the Abim's faction.

"I have never being the leader or member of Abim. It is not correct to say that I'm fighting for Abim. It's proved from the nomination garnered. I'm far behind than Sheikh Azmi and Anuar Tahir," he said, adding that he can work with everyone.

Both factions could make a compromise

While more than 80 candidates have been nominated for the 20-member Keadilan supreme council, it is expected that only 50 to 60 will accept their nominations to contest.

Keadilan has 121 divisions, and each will send 12 delegates to the party annual general meeting on Nov 9-11 in Kemaman, Trengganu. However, five divisions would not be sending their delegates due to technical reasons.

It is believed that 55 divisions are backing the non-Abim faction, while 40 are pro-Abim and the remaining 20 divisions are in the 'grey area', said the source.

However, some party leaders have suggested that both factions should make a compromise before the party election.

While Ezam is certain to continue as Youth chief, incumbent deputy chief Mustaffa Kamil Ayub of Abim's faction is running neck-to-neck with Saifuddin, who is from the rival camp.

Another two candidates nominated for the deputy post are vice-chief Low Chee Chong and Selangor state chief Hamidzun Khairuddin. Both are however expected to withdraw their nominations.

For the post of the vice-chief, the Abim candidates are Negeri Sembilan youth chief Jaafar Mohamad, Malacca youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin and Perak public relations secretary Zulkifli Ibrahim.

Meanwhile, non-Abim faction nominees are Low, youth secretary Zahid Marip, youth treasurer Adlan Benan Omar and Penang youth chief Johari Kassim.

"The non-Abim faction in youth wing is leading with a small margin right now. But they do not have any absolute advantage over the other team," said the source.

Hot contests in women's wing too

Meanwhile, Keadilan women's wing also see a straight fight between incumbent women's chief Fuziah Salleh against information chief Zainon Jaafar, with the former leading in the run-up.

Zainon is leading the Abim faction's wanita (women) line-up with vice-chairman Animah Ferrar challenging incumbent deputy chief Irene Fernandez.

The non-Abim faction has proposed three candidates for women's vice-chairman - current vice-chairman Intan Rohani Tan, treasurer Zuraida Kamaruddin and Seputeh division chief Karen Goh.

However, Intan was also nominated by the Abim faction. Other nominees by the non-Abim faction for this post are Irene and Faekah Husin.

"For the moment, the nomination shows that the non-Abim faction leads by about 20 divisions," said the source.

From the nominations, the non-Abim faction had garnered about 50 divisions compared to Abim's 30 division. It was understood that Abim faction controls about 30 percent of women's division.

Sources also said that they were alerted that some of the divisions have been put under pressure to nominate certain candidates.

"We are not worried about the posts, but what we are more concern is whether wanita will split with the slander campaign by certain quarters," said the source.

The source added that the objective of Abim's faction is to control the party and determine its future.