KUALA LUMPUR – PKR leaders have brushed aside speculation by political analysts that the low turnout of members in party elections reflects its membership strength.
In fact, the claim that the low voter turnout is a reflection of the current leadership is something to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Party member William Leong said it is unjust for analysts to spew comments without analysing the different types and “categories” the party members belong to.
Leong stressed that not all existing 1.1 million members are active members, as the majority of them who joined party folds after the 2018 election have “motives”.
“Before 2008, members of the party were activists… They joined because they wanted reformasi (reformation), and they were very active members,” he told The Vibes.
“After 2008, people saw that there was potential that PKR could be the ruling government, and a different group of members joined us.
“And after 2018, that was when we had an explosion, where we had members who joined us who were not activists or those who wanted to do something for the country.
They saw that PKR could be the government, and they wanted to join the party thinking they could get incentives – not because they wanted to follow a certain ideology.”
Previously, in a report by Free Malaysia Today, analysts raised questions on PKR’s membership, saying the poor turnout of voters reflected the candidates’ failure to entice supporters to vote for them.
Leong, who is also Selayang MP, stressed that the low turnout rate does not reflect the lack of enthusiasm among active members.
Pointing out that logistical problems could potentially be the cause of the low turnout, he said there is only one polling station for each of the 222 divisions in the party election.
“For instance, in Selayang, there are 19,000 members. How is it possible for 19,000 members to cast their votes at one polling station?
“If the turnout rate is 10%, there would be approximately 2,000 members queuing at the polling station at once.
“They have had a bad experience in 2018, where it took them hours to cast their votes. So, it’s a problem with the logistics.”
Meanwhile, incumbent Kota Raja division chief Gunaraj George said PKR is the only party in the country that allows its entire membership to head to polling stations to cast their votes while other parties practice the delegate system.
Speaking to The Vibes, Gunaraj said the analysts cannot make a comparison of approximately 13% of PKR members who head to polling stations with hardly 1% of membership via the delegate system in other parties.
We believe every member has the right to choose the president, working council and division heads,” he said.
The Sentosa assemblyman said this was the first party polls which featured an online voting system where it saw the number of balloters increase up to twofold.
“For instance, in my division (Kota Raja), in 2018, we had 2,400 people who came out to vote. This time around, we have doubled the number, which is 4,800 people through physical and online voting.”
Sharing their sentiments is vice-president candidate Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin, who is of the opinion that there is a slight increase in number or voter turnout compared to the previous party polls.
Shamsul said it is not fair to cast aspersions on the actual members, as those who are interested to join only need to apply through their mobile phones, since the party adopted the online membership system.
I believe the PKR election committee will come up with its suggestions to improvise the entire election process, which includes accommodating more members to participate in the party election.
“Notwithstanding, the initiative to organise party elections before the general election is a bold move, and doing so via online means makes PKR the pioneer in digital party elections,” the incumbent information chief told The Vibes.
Checks by The Vibes on PKR’s election website revealed that as of 9pm yesterday, 147,334 members or 13.17% had either voted physically or online. – The Vibes, May 29, 2022
