PETALING JAYA: A showdown between Azmin Ali and Datuk Zaid Ibrahim in the PKR deputy presidential race in Sabah this weekend will have a far-reaching implications on party adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s influence in the state and Sarawak.
Pundits will be watching closely the PKR elections in Sabah scheduled today and tomorrow, as it would be a good indicator of Anwar’s “strength” in the state.
Party insiders said Anwar had been relentlessly campaigning for Azmin.
“If Sabah PKR members reject Azmin, it is as good as them rejecting Anwar,” said an observer.
Zaid and Azmin are engaged in a three-cornered fight with Perak PKR chief Mustaffa Kamil Ayub.
A total of 11 divisions in Sabah namely Kudat, Kota Belud, Kota Kinabalu, Penampang, Papar, Beaufort, Ranau, Keningau, Libaran, Sandakan and Silam will hold central leadership elections today.
Another nine divisions — Tawau, Pensiangan, Kota Marudu, Tuaran, Sepanggar, Putatan, Sipitang, Beluran and Tenom — will hold their elections tomorrow.
About 130 other divisions in the peninsula and Sarawak will hold their central party elections next weekend and the following weekend.
In another development, Wangsa Maju PKR Youth chief Mohd Hamdi Mohd Said has denied that 200 members from the division had quit the party to join Umno.
He claimed that Mohd Nasir Husin who led the group of so called “defectors” was not even a member of the division.
On Wednesday, Umno Wangsa Maju chief Datuk Dr Mohd Shafei Abdullah announced the exodus of Wangsa Maju PKR members to Umno.
“Mohd Nasir was in the pro-tem team when the division was set up in 1999, but he had been an inactive member since 2000.
“And his name is not even registered as a member of the division. I have a list of names of all the 1,368 division members, and his name is not one of them,” he said.
Hamdi challenged Mohd Nasir to give his party membership number and the names of all the 200 members whom he claimed had quit the party.
Hamdi, who is a founding member of PKR, said he suspected the mass “exodus” was politically motivated.
“It could be due to the Galas and Batu Sapi by-elections, and it also could be because of the internal party elections,” he said.
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