INCUMBENT PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali may be secure in Sarawak, his supporters say, but  re-polling and extended voting in 11 other branches this weekend could determine the winner of the party’s number two post.

Today, 21 branches in Sarawak will vote in the last phase of the party elections, while polling will be re-done in Keningau in Sabah following problems last weekend.

Tomorrow, eight other branches in Sarawak will vote, while polling will be held just for those whose e-ballots did not register earlier in six branches in Malacca and in Jelebu in Negri Sembilan. The Pensiangan branch in Sabah will continue voting for members who endured long queues but did not get to vote due to time constraints earlier, while Tawau will see fresh voting.

Also tomorrow, a complete re-poll will be held in Kuala Selangor, Selangor, where the discovery of a telecommunications jammer completely derailed voting earlier.

The unofficial tally so far shows Azmin in the lead over his challenger, vice-president Rafizi Ramli, by some 3,000 votes.

Of the 11 branches, only Kuala Selangor is considered an Azmin stronghold as he was former Selangor menteri besar.

His challenger, vice-president Rafizi Ramli, has greater advantage in the ten other branches, especially in Pensiangan in Sabah, where Rafizi had won when the branch voted on November 4 before the voting period was cut short due to security concerns.

Keningau is also said to be pro-Rafizi, while Tawau is in Azmin’s camp.

The PKR central election committee (JPP) said voting in Keningau had to be repeated after a last-minute change in premises resulted in weak internet connection. Voting in Tawau earlier was halted after it was discovered that third parties were casting ballots on behalf of registered members.

The six branches in Malacca and Jelebu in Negri Sembilan have a combined total of 2,000 missing e-ballots, which are split between the two camps.

Political analyst Awang Azman Awang Pawi from University Malaya said these last 11 branches could determine the election outcome and were more to Rafizi’s favour, as those who did not get to voteare said to be his supporters.

“Just look at thousands of supporters in Pensiangan and Keningau who are angry because they did not have time to vote.

“In Malacca, I understand that the e-votes of Rafizi’s supporters went missing,” he said referring to Internet connection problems that hampered the e-voting process in some places.

In Sarawak, Azmin is expected to find strong support due to his role in helping the state PKR campaign during the last state election in 2016.

In the current party polls, 16 out of 29 state PKR branch chiefs are Azmin supporters, according to a party source there.

However, the controversy with the surge in memberships in the Julau branch is a concern, despite some views that not all its 13,000 members would end up voting.

“Julau’s 13,000 new members is a concern, that they would side with Rafizi. We can’t take our strength in Sarawak for granted,” said an Azmin supporter in the state PKR. – November 10, 2018.