JOHOR BARU: The PKR election is heating up in Johor, with 22 out of 26 branches seeing a contest for its top position with attention given to Johor Baru, Tebrau and Pulai.
State PKR vice chairman Jimmy Puah Wee Tse said that only four Johor PKR branches would not see a contest for their branch chief position in the party elections.
“The four branches are Ledang, Bakri, Pengerang and Kota Tinggi as the incumbents of the branch chief won unopposed. This means the other 22 branches will see a contest for the branch chief position,” he added.
Puah, who is also the Tebrau MP, said this when met after carrying out a visit to Seri Baiduri apartment in Bandar Tiram here on Wednesday (April 9).
He also said that after two terms of being PKR Pulai branch chief since 2018, he decided to contest in the Tebrau branch in this year’s party election following a request from grassroots members.
“As an elected representative, I believe that it is an advantage for me to go into the party election because members can review my track record as Pulai MP.
“Furthermore, having the branch chairman the same as the elected representative will help PKR garner more support coming from the people,” he added.
Puah also reminded the candidates and their supporters to avoid any untoward incidents that would mar this year’s PKR party elections.
“After the party election is over, all of us have to remember that we are PKR members, and we should always be unified and make our party stronger,” he said.
Puah would be up against PKR Pulai branch incumbent chief R Yuneswaran, who is also Segamat MP, in a three-cornered fight.
Besides Pulai branch, Johor Baru branch is expected to see a close fight for its branch chief with incumbent Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir, who is also Johor Baru MP and Energy Transition and Water Transformation Deputy Minister, defending his position.
He is up against state PKR Youth chief Mohamad Taufiq Ismail.
The PKR central leadership election is expected to take place on May 24, starting with the branch-level elections from April 11 to April 20.
