PKR Divisional Elections In April More Orderly
SHAH ALAM, May 14 (Bernama) -- The Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) divisional elections held in April were described as much more orderly and well-organised compared to previous years.
PKR information chief Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said the party's decision to use a new system in the recent divisonal elections also reflected PKR, a party that guarantees the integrity of whoever is elected without interference from any party.
'This time the party has made an early decision to utilise technology and not allow large gatherings during voting at divisional level. We find that such a process is very helpful in maintaining order and discipline.
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'In fact, the decision to me is right because it first shows that PKR is a forward-looking party, utilising technology such as blockchain for the purpose of ensuring the integrity of the election is intact and not disturbed by any party, apart from the discipline (of members) to comply with the party's decision not to allow gathering more than 50 people in one place,' he said.
Fahmi Fadzil, who is also the Minister of Communications, said this in a special Sinar Harian interview programme which was broadcast last night.
Commenting on the perception of some parties that this PKR election was rowdy, Fahmi said the process was much calmer without any elections being stopped or completely disrupted compared to before, especially those seen in 2019, which was before the Sheraton Move.
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'For me, it is a thousand times better (1,000 times better) than before. I strongly disagree that it was a noisy election. But we all understand that democracy is noisy. It is noisy but not chaotic.
'So the noise is important, it is a reflection of the unity of views and attitudes. That is democracy. For me, this is a good opportunity for the party to be given a new spirit without us leaving out any party,' he said.
Meanwhile, Fahmi believes that the party leadership will be fair in placing someone in the right place to continue to strengthen the party's direction even if they lose or are not elected at the end of the election process.
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Then on Tuesday, he showed up at the Asean meeting in his role as Economy Minister, accompanying the PM. Then on Wednesday, immediately after the Asean 'do', he resigned. It was quite responsible and sporting of him to show up at the Asean function as Economy Minister as required. Had he been absent on purpose, wouldn't that make Malaysia a laughing stock in the eyes of the World particularly Asean? But that's not the end of the story. On the same day, another Minister, Nik Nazmi also resigned following Rafizi's footsteps. Nazmi was in Rafizi's camp during the party election and he failed to defend his Vice-Presidency. But he didn't do too badly. He missed the boat by just about 100 votes. Only four Vice-Presidents were to be elected and Nik Nazmi was No 5. He got 5,556 votes while the No 4 successful candidate, Chang Lih Kang received 5,757 votes. The consolation was that Chang an incumbent and also a Minister, was in Rafizi's camp too. So now there are two vacancies. 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Moral of the story – Never try to overshadow or outshine your boss! Coming back to the PKR election, no one from Sabah made it to the Supreme Council. Sabah PKR Information Chief Razeef Rakimin who had the blessings of the State PKR Leadership to contest only managed 2,920 votes compared to the last candidate who won and got 4,366 votes. Razeef is also the Tuaran PKR divisional chief and was recently reelected to that post. However, the Tuaran division is believed to be one of the four PKR divisions in Sabah who nominated Rafizi instead of Nurul. He was also not present at Nurul's event at SICC in May but instead attended Rafizi's function at ITCC on the same day. However, it is understood that a few of his divisional committee members defied him and went to SICC instead of ITCC. Sabah PKR chief Datuk Mustapha Sakmud himself did not contest as he would be invited to the party's supreme council meeting as State head. Instead he gave his blessings to Razeef at a press conference. 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A few years ago, he replaced Christina as Sabah PKR chief. How it happened or who was behind him, to borrow Dr M's words, 'I can't remember'. However, late last year or early this year, Rasam in turn was replaced by Mustapha Sakmud. How it happened? Again, I forgot. Anyway, politics is a game of being in the right team. Now that Nurul is elected, Rasam may see his fortunes coming back soon. However, he is neither a MP or Senator or Assemblyman. Mustapha is the MP for Sepanggar and Higher Education Minister. It is also possible that Rasam may replace Razeef as Information Chief. I am not sure how many Nominated or Appointed posts are there to the PKR central committee, if any. Assuming vacancies do exist, both Christina and Rasam stand a chance. However, Sabah PKR women folks had better luck at the party election. Rufinah Pengeran from Pensiangan was elected one of the three Vice Women Chiefs of PKR. She got 2,518 votes, far ahead of her closest rival who received only 1,574 votes. Another Sabah PKR leader who contested but failed to win a seat in the central committee was Dikin Musah who got 1,318 votes. He is the Beaufort PKR divisional chief. If I am not mistaken, he was also the PKR candidate for Beaufort in the 2022 MP election which was won by Umno. Not sure if he was in anybody's camp in the recent election. Now that no Sabah delegate won a seat at the central level, it remains to be seen whether anyone will be appointed and who he or she is. Nearer home, Sabah PKR is now in the safe hands of Datuk Mustapha Sakmud. He took over from Sangkar who in turn took over from Christina Liew. So full circle now. Sabah PKR has been associated with the name Christina for more than a decade. She has been the face of PKR which culminated in her being appointed a Deputy Chief Minister in 2018, the first Chinese woman to hold that post. But all good things must come to an end. In late 2020, the Warisan+ Sabah government which includes PKR and DAP and Upko lost the election and Christina found herself in the Opposition overnight. But as Kak Wan (Anwar's wife) said: 'Manusia merancang, Tuhan turut merancang' (Man plans, God also plans). Early 2022 Christina found herself a Minister again in the same Tourism Ministry after PH (DAP, PKR, Upko) threw their weight behind Hajiji who survived a coup planned by former comrades in Umno. But perhaps not many Sabahans remember that Christina actually took over from the late Datuk Lajim Okin as Sabah PKR chief last time after the latter left PKR to form his own party based in his native Beaufort. Lajim formerly of Umno and Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Mojilip Bumburing joined PKR at about the same time when then Opposition leader Anwar came over to Sabah. Anwar spoke at Bumburing's property in Tuaran and Lajim's hometown in Beaufort. In the 2013 election, Lajim won in Beaufort, Bumburing in Tamparuli and Christina in Api-Api. After the election and the State Assembly sat, an Opposition Leader with official perks was to be elected. The fight for the post was between Lajim and Bumburing. But the Speaker announced that Lajim received more votes from Opposition Assemblymen than Bumburing. Christina became Lajim's deputy. A frustrated Bumburing soon formed Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS), saying that he was never officially a PKR member. PCS is now led by Senator Tan Sri Anifah Aman while Bumburing returned to Upko where he was deputy president (to Dompok). Christina continued to lead Sabah PKR until about a couple of years ago. She even led Sabah PH until she lost to the Upko president recently. To add insult to injury, she even lost her PKR divisional chief post to her aide recently. But by now Christina is mature in politics and she now concentrates on her duties as Tourism Minister and Api-Api Assemblywoman. Being aligned to Nurul, Sabahans have not seen the last of Christina. In fact, when Christina first joined PKR in 2001 and stood in the Likas by-election the same year, the PKR president was still Kak Wan and the Sabah PKR chief was Datin Saidatul Badru Tun Said Keruak, sister of former Chief Minister Datuk Salleh. Lajim and Bumburing were not in PKR yet. That is how long Christina has been in PKR and that explains why she is close to Kak Wan. She supported PKR and Kak Wan when not many Sabahans dared to. She deserves to be rewarded by Anwar and Nurul. She also deserves to be appreciated by CM Hajiji because when Sabah PH threw their weight behind him, Christina was the Sabah PH Chairperson.
