PKR's second party election, scheduled for May 26, is likely to turn into a tumultuous event as keen contests are expected among party leaders for key posts.

A nomination list released by the PKR information bureau today showed that 17 candidates have been nominated for the three vice-president posts while as many as 146 members are qualified to contest for the 20 elected supreme council posts.

However, all eyes are expected to be on the presidency race after former PKR treasurer Abdul Rahman Othman confirmed he will challenge party advisor Anwar Ibrahim for the post in the triennial PKR party election.

Nonetheless, the nominations received by Anwar put him in a clear edge over his opponent. As nomination closed on March 31, Anwar received 120 nominations for the presidency from the 167 party divisions nationwide, followed by his wife and incumbent Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (10) and Abdul Rahman, who received seven nominations.

Wan Azizah, who has helmed the party which was formed in the wake of Anwar's dramatic sacking from the government in 1998, has indicated earlier that she was willing to make way for her husband to take over the party.

Anwar, however, is facing a legal hurdle since his five-year ban from active politics will only expire next April.

Top guns for key posts

On the deputy president's post, incumbent Dr Syed Husin Ali has received 73 nominations, followed by current vice-president Azmin Ali (54) and ex-Youth chief Ezam Mohd Nor (7).

With an earlier announcement from Azmin to pull out from the contest of all post and Ezam's decision not to contest, Syed Husin is expected to retain the No 2 post unopposed - barring any last-minute change of mind from Azmin.

Azmin had reportedly told PAS' party organ harakahdaily recently that he may reconsider his decision to quit.

Contacted today, Azmin told malaysiakini that he will decide on the matter early next week.

For the vice-president race, incumbent Dr Lee Boon Chye, together with newcomers KS Nallakaruppan, who is the Kepong division chief and Wanita chief Fuziah Salleh have emerged at the top three spots out of the 17 qualified candidates.

The trio received 85, 57 and 42 nominations respectively.

Others nominated to vie for a supreme council seat included incumbents R Sivarasa (38), Azmin (34), PKR Sabah deputy chief Dr Jeffrey Kitingan (33) and Mustaffa Kamil Ayub (33) who was appointed a vice-president at the previous party poll.

The PKR constitution allows for the appointment of up to three vice-presidents, in addition to the three elected.

On the hotly-contested supreme council positions, incumbents ex-ISA detainee Dr Badrul Amin Bahron topped the list with 93 nominations, followed by Penang-based leader Dr Mansor Othman (84) and Sarawak's Padungan state assemblyperson Dominique Ng (79).

Others in the race are Dr Xavier Jeyakumar (69), Christina Liew , Johari Abdul (both 64), Dr Sanusi Osman (58), Irene Fernandez (57), Sivarasa (48), Jeffrey (47), Cheah Kah Peng (44), Saiful Izham Ramli (41) and Tian Chua (40).

Anwar's eldest daughter, Nurul Izzah - who has earlier said she is ready for active politics - has also received three nominations, qualifying her to take part in the contest. Each candidate is required to receive at least two nominations to be eligible for the contest.

Reply by next Friday

Meanwhile, PKR secretary-general Kamarul Bahrin Abas when contacted said all the candidates are given a week to reply to the party's offer letters on whether they are willing to contest or not.

"They have to reply by next Friday," he told malaysiakini .

Asked on the three divisions in Kedah which have been directed by the party's election committee to hold a fresh meeting , Kamarul said their nominations will be taken into consideration "if they can submit the nominations in time".

In a related development, party information bureau chief Tian Chua clarified that the party's political bureau meeting last night did not discuss matters pertaining to the nomination.

"It is not the role of the political bureau to discuss the candidacy as it is handled by the election committee. We only discussed logistic preparation for the congress," said Chua.

The PKR annual congress has been scheduled for May 25 to 27 and will be held at a high school in Seremban. The election is slated for the second day of the meeting and results are expected on the same night.