Kelana Jaya PKR polls: Abdul Razak's membership questioned

Abdul Razak

In the aftermath of the bitterly-fought Kelana Jaya PKR divisional polls, questions have arisen as to the authenticity of the membership data of Abdul Razak Jalil, who had failed to wrest the division chief’s post from incumbent Syed Shahir Mohamud on Saturday.

According to PKR sources, the membership list at headquarters show Abdul Razak joined PKR in December 2007, but that could be impossible because Umno records show he was a still registered Umno member in 2009.

Not only that, in the March 2008 general election, Abdul Razak had also actively campaigned for BN - only switching sides after PKR won Kelana Jaya.

"All these happened during the tenure of of the previous secretary-general Salehuddin Hashim. And I think everyone knows the close relationship Salehuddin has with Soh Chee Wen," the Kelana Jaya source toldMalaysia Chronicle.

The Soh Chee Wen-Zaid Ibrahim factor 

Salehuddin, a former high-flying businessman, resigned from PKR earlier this year after falling out with de-facto head Anwar Ibrahim and Selangor Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim. Apparently, Salehuddin was unhappy because he was not given a high-salaried job at one of the business subsidiaries owned by the Selangor state government.

Salehuddin

Salehuddin is also believed to have been involved in brokering the defections of several PKR members to Umno or becoming BN-friendly lawmakers in Parliament. He appeared at their press conferences and joined them in castigating the party.

Among those who left PKR include former Penanti assemblyman Fairuz Khairuddin, Bayan Baru MP Zahrain Hashim, Kulim Bandar Bharu MP Zulkifli Noordin and Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Bang.

During his time in PKR, his close associate was controversial businessman Soh Chee Wen, who has also fallen out with Anwar. It is unclear if Soh is still a PKR member although many of his loyalists are still with the party. These include FT Chief Zaid Ibrahim and Sabah vice-president Jeffrey Kitingan.

Genuine or phantom members? 

On Saturday, despite ferrying in bus-loads of supporters to vote for him, Abdul Razak lost to Syed Shahir, the MTUC president, by six votes.

Abdul Razak had previously claimed to have signed in 4,000 members. He teamed up with former MIC leader Dr S Vigneswaran to capitalize on the Indian vote against Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, who ran as Syed Shahir’s deputy. By comparison, Syed Shahir has only recruited into PKR 2,000-odd members.

Zaid

“This opens the question of how genuine are the 4,000 members Abdul Razak brought in. His camp has openly promised MP, ADUN and councilorship positions should they win. But the biggest joke is that his Umno membership was still active. In the end, we were told Abdul Razak had to beg Umno Kelana Jaya to release a letter stating that he had left the party,” the source said.

Indeed, this is not first case of discrepancy in membership data. Bukit Lanjan assemblywoman and Selangor state exco Elizabeth Wong lost to Lee Chin Cheh in a four-cornered fight for the Petaling Jaya Utara division chief’s post last weekend.

According to Eli, she has proof that Lee only transferred his membership to PJU in August, two months past the June deadline for eligibility. She has filed an appeal, claiming an “inside job”.