PKR stood out in terms of DEMOCRACY and respect of member's rights, where every member of PKR had the right to vote in PKR's elections for the President and its National leadership - but it is gone now - when the right of members have been lost and voting rights now rest with DELEGATES. WHY did PKR choose to become just like UMNO and some other parties - where members have NO voting rights. Now, these DELEGATES do not even VOTE as per the wishes of members - for they do not have prior meetings with all their members to collectively decide who to VOTE - the Delegates tend to vote as they please. When this smaller number of DELEGATES votes, there is a risk of 'vote-buying' by the candidates, be it through monies or some other promises.
For the record, PKR introduced the “one member one vote” system in 2010, where all party members have the power to choose their leaders at their respective divisions and for the top six central leaders.
So, now, PKR members have no more the right to choose and vote for the President, Deputy President and the 4 Vice President - this right is now given to the 'DELEGATES" . and the reasons for this change is 'ABSURD'...but i believe that members will still have the right to elect 20 of the Central leadership members.[I could not find the amended PKR Constitution Online]
"We had in-depth discussions about how the party should elect the top six positions because it was found that grassroots members might not know about the leaders they want to choose at the central level.
"For example, when they choose vice-presidents, the ordinary members may know some of the leaders by name or have seen them from afar and know them from their oratory skills.
"However, they might not have the full idea of the real capabilities of each leader in terms of their service delivery, whether they are committed to doing work on the ground and such.
"So, it is unfair if every party member gets to vote (to decide top leaders)," Fuziah said on Friday.
How much PKR membership support does Anwar Ibrahim have to be President? NOBODY knows because there was NO election, as he became President uncontested. In some situations, even if uncontested, members will still require to VOTE - and the failure of a Presidential candidate to obtain at least support of 50% of party members means that he is NOT QUALIFIED to be President. I hope that the upcoming PKR elections will see at least a CONTEST for the Presidency...
OR will PKR be like UMNO, where a Resolution is passed to prevent any other from contesting - hence retaining Anwar's position as President of PKR. Any such RESOLUTION passed by DELEGATES - and not all members, defeats democracy...
In the OLD days, where it was difficult for all members to VOTE - it was OK to give the power to vote to DELEGATES who come and vote at a location at a General Meeting. Now, there is POSTAL VOTING, and now even remote electronic voting which makes it EASY for all members to vote..and PKR has been observing this, giving all member the right to vote...so the U-TURN on democratic process that respected the rights of each and every member to VOTE is disgraceful.
When if comes to picking DELEGATES, it is absurd for the Party to insist on gender balance or ethnic balance. UNLESS at all DIVISIONS, it is mandatory that they pick 30% of their delegates who are women. But still ODD.
Now, even if PKR President does not contest OR loses and fails to remain President - it does not affect the fact that he is PRIME MINISTER, as PM depends on the support or continued support of more than 50% Members of Parliament...
### PKR Constitution is ODD, as it gives the PRESIDENT (not the elected Central Leadership Council) the power to APPOINT into the Leadership Council other elected persons like additional VPs, additional members of Leadership Council - normally this power is given to the elected Central Leadership Council NOT One Person).
See earlier posts::
Anwar, PKR - Danger of becoming Autocratic and not Democratic? President just too much power?
Anwar - Can he be President of PKR? Societies Act says he cannot unless...
Azmin unhappy about people Anwar appointed? Amend PKR constitution to make it more democratic.
cc
Summary
PKR will hold party polls for top positions on May 24, with nominations open on May 3 and 4.
Anwar Ibrahim's coming term as president will be his last if he chooses to defend his post.
PKR will hold elections for top positions in the central, women, and youth leadership on May 24.
For party president Anwar Ibrahim, the coming term will be his last - if he chooses to defend his post which he will likely do, and be uncontested.
Anwar is currently in his second term as PKR president.
PKR secretary-general Fuziah Salleh announced the election date in a statement tonight after the incumbent central leadership committee decided on the matter.
Nominations for the posts will open on May 3 and 4.
Unlike previous PKR polls since 2010, the party will not open up voting for the top six central posts - president, deputy president, and four vice-presidents - to all members.
Instead, a delegate system has been reintroduced.
Under the new rules, 30 percent of delegates must be women.
Additionally, divisions must ensure that their voting delegates are ethnically proportional to the demographics of their respective constituencies.
At the division level, nominations will be on March 14 to 16, with polling on April 11 to 20.
In the previous party election, the hottest contest was for the deputy president post with Rafizi Ramli defeating Saifuddin Nasution Ismail by 19,000 votes.
Saifuddin was widely perceived to be Anwar's candidate in the election.
Rafizi's
team also bagged three of the four vice-president posts, while
Saifuddin’s ally Amirudin Shari secured the most votes in that race. - Malaysiakini, 26/1/2025
Summary:
PKR central leadership is seeking major changes to how the party does its election.
Among key changes being proposed include to revert to the delegates system for choosing top party leaders.
A special congress will be held in Shah Alam today where party delegates will debate a motion to introduce amendments to the PKR constitution before voting.
INTERVIEW | PKR central leadership council will seek its special congress today to introduce constitutional amendments that will change how the party conducts its election.
Secretary-general Fuziah Salleh said they want to do away with the “one member one vote” system for electing the top six positions, namely the president, deputy president and four vice-presidents.
Instead, she said, the council will propose that PKR reverts to the delegates system and gives the power to vote to some 30,000 party delegates from 222 divisions nationwide.
"We had in-depth discussions about how the party should elect the top six positions because it was found that grassroots members might not know about the leaders they want to choose at the central level.
"For example, when they choose vice-presidents, the ordinary members may know some of the leaders by name or have seen them from afar and know them from their oratory skills.
"However, they might not have the full idea of the real capabilities of each leader in terms of their service delivery, whether they are committed to doing work on the ground and such.
"So, it is unfair if every party member gets to vote (to decide top leaders)," Fuziah said on Friday.
The newly minted secretary-general gave the interview to explain what PKR aims to achieve at its special congress, which will be held in Shah Alam this morning.
She said it was for the same reason PKR had continued the delegates system for electing 20 party members to its central leadership council.
However, the plan to revert to the delegates system will not affect division elections, where each member will still have the power to choose who can lead them at the division level.
For the record, PKR introduced the “one member one vote” system in 2010, where all party members have the power to choose their leaders at their respective divisions and for the top six central leaders.
When asked if the plan might be perceived as regressive, Fuziah refuted the notion.
She said the party has learned from their experience in the past party polls, which showed how the “one member one vote” practice was open to abuse.
"The system may also be perceived as regressive because if they do not know the leaders, there is the possibility that they will rely on 'cai' (list of choices) and such.
"This will be unfair because they choose not based on their conviction on the leadership. In the end, candidates with the most 'cai’ get elected."
Party delegates
Fuziah said the central leadership council is also seeking to improve its election system by increasing the number of party delegates eligible to vote for the central leadership positions.
Under its current practice, only 12 delegates get to represent each of the 222 PKR divisions at the party's annual general meetings.
The motion that the council will propose later today seeks to increase the number of delegates with voting power to 116 per divison.
The figure includes 46 elected division and wings' committee members, who can attend the annual congress physically, plus 70 delegates who will cast their votes online.
Divisions with more than 3,000 members will be eligible for 10 extra delegates per 1,000 members, to a maximum of 156.
According to Fuziah, they are also introducing quotas to ensure every gender and ethnicity is fairly represented at the divisions delegate level.
Based on her explanation, it was understood that the quota system would impose a mandatory 30 percent women representation.
Each division must also be fairly represented according to the ethnicity composition at their locality as per the Election Commission's demographic data.
All motions have since been approved by the PKR special congress today. - Malaysiakini, 15/12/2024
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