Will allegations of malpractice affect PKR in general election?

PETALING JAYA: When Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the recent party polls, beset by allegations of irregularities and malpractices, would not affect the party's chances in the next general election, it drew mixed response from political analysts and some party members.
His contention is that the party had done everything possible to rectify flaws in the direct elections system implemented for the first time and therefore, would not affect its performance in the next general election.
However, political observers believe the fiasco that saw the party's Federal Territory chief Datuk Zaid Ibrahim pulling out of the contest for the deputy presidency over alleged voting irregularities before resigning from the party would affect their chances in the next general election.
"For me, I believe to a certain extent, malpractices certainly affect the party, not just trust among the supporters but also the trust of those outside the party, particulary the fence-sitters who are watching this election closely," said political analyst in Universiti Sains Malaysia, Dr Sivamurugan Pandian.
"I believe those who lost in the election will certainly show their anger and frustration, because they lost due to the system," he added.
Dr Sivamurugan also noted that the unofficial party election results showed that they were losing the Indian votes.
"If they do not have Indians being elected for the party vice-president post, the party can even appoint one of its Indian leaders to be a vice-president.
"The party has 33 percent Indian supporters. The results would somehow affect the party. Maybe, the perception among urban voters about the PKR tussle will not change, but not among the rural voters," he said.
He said some quarters within the party itself had began asking whether Anwar was a legitimate leader as they were already questioning why Anwar, who is the Opposition Leader in Parliament, did not contest as party president.
"Anwar now has to focus on how to restore the confidence and trust since the party is facing its biggest challenge since the 2008 General Election. How he is going to pacify those who had lost in the party elections to continue to support the party?" he asked.
Even their own counterpart in the Opposition pact did not turn a blind eye to what was happening in PKR's party election when senior Selangor exco member and DAP leader Teresa Kok openly reminded DAP members in Selangor not to emulate PKR.
However, other political analysts believed that what happened during the PKR election had little impact on the level of support towards the party, depending on when the general election would be called.
"It won't affect PKR. It depends on when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is going to call for the general election. It will only affect PKR in the short term but not in the long term," said political analyst in Monash University Prof James Chin.
"The reason is very simple, Malaysians have short memories. Malaysians are easily distracted by political scandal," he said.
However, Chin opined that the party's biggest challenge was whether the party number two or those elected as deputy president had enough political weight to take over the party presidency.
"The question remains...whether, whoever elected as number two has enough political weight to take over as number one, in the event that Anwar goes to jail as a result of his (current) sodomy trial.
"That is the biggest challenge PKR faces, not the number of votes a candidate gets," he reasoned.

100 stage demo at PKR congress venue

1300 members quit the party.

tunku : how can a man be a pm when he can't even have full grip on his own party? furthermore he is not even the party's president.many had realized now that pkr is not the party that can lead the nation as it is a party that is meant for cronies. only the favourites get the place. pity the indian community, they have been cheated badly by anwar and pkr.they should leave the party at once.there is no point for them to cling on.people can judge the pkr's condition by looking at the attendance of delegates in their on going congress.