DESPITE a membership surge after the 14th general election, less than a quarter of PKR members in seven states have voted in the party polls that began on September 23, said the central election committee.

Political analysts and party leaders said this shows either election fatigue, coming on the heels of GE14 and four by-elections, or a lack of understanding about democracy among party members.

Expectations that the huge increase of 300,000 new members before the party polls would have an impact have not materialised in the states that have completed voting under the PKR system that sees voting conducted in stages and by state.

However, the 21% voter turnout thus far is still high compared with the total of 12% in the last PKR elections.

“It is almost double compared with the previous party elections. Ultimately, we are targeting a voter turnout of 40% this time,” PKR central election committee chairman Rashid Din told The Malaysian Insight.

Between September 23 and October 14, only 70,505 PKR members voted. This is out of a total of 320,957 eligible voters in seven states, including nine branches in Selangor that voted last week.

The six states that have completed voting are Penang, Johor, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and the Federal Territories.

Voting in Selangor will be completed later this month. Tomorrow, seven branches will vote, and the remaining six will do so on October 28.

Malacca and Negri Sembilan will vote today, and Perlis, tomorrow.

PKR is using an electronic voting system that was riddled with problems at the outset, causing the results in Kedah to be nullified.

The party is the only one in the country that allows every member to directly vote for national-level PKR leaders.

However, political analyst Professor Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi said the “one member, one vote” concept is meaningless if not even a third of party members cast their ballots.

“It’s not a sign of a mature democracy. It means that those in the party’s top positions, who will eventually occupy cabinet posts, are elected by only 30% of voters,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

It is also a sign that the party’s grassroots lack political awareness, despite PKR touting a reformist agenda, he said.

The Universiti Malaya lecturer added that it could also mean that the grassroots are unhappy with the competition in the ongoing polls, which have been “very aggressive amid allegations of money politics”.

He was referring to the bitter fight for the deputy presidency between Rafizi Ramli and incumbent Mohamed Azmin Ali.

Voter turnout for party elections, however, has historically been low. In 2010, the leadership was elected by only 30% of voters, and in 2014, the figure plummeted to 12%.

Wanita chief candidate Haniza Talha believes that the low turnout this time is because the elections are being held so soon after GE14.

“There were also four by-elections to deal with (after GE14). Maybe, members are giving this less importance, but I do think a 21% turnout is still high.”

Hulu Selangor Youth chief Saifuddin Shafi, however, wonders if the low turnout could be due to inactive members.

He urged the secretary-general to update the membership roll, as 40% of members are inactive.

PKR’s total membership exceeds 800,000, of which 300,000 joined after Pakatan Harapan won on May 9 and formed the federal government.

The new members comprise almost 40% of total voters. – October 20, 2018.