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"THERE SHOULD NOT BE ANY SNAP POLLS IN SELANGOR"

By Shahrum Sayuthi

SHAH ALAM: PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin had insisted that there should not be any snap state elections due to the Selangor leadership crisis.

Zuraida said any decision to initiate such a snap poll will be an act of "nonsense and against the constitution".

Speaking at the PKR's women wing meeting today, she called on party members not to spread rumors that the Sultan of Selangor will dissolve the state assembly for a snap state election to be held.

"Any move to initiate a (state election) will make the people of Selangor angry and this will result in Umno being wiped out in this state. The result will be 56-0," she said, in reference to the number of seats in the Selangor assembly.

The Selangor leadership crisis was triggered by PKR move to replace its menteri besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim with party president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Khalid was sacked from the party on Aug 9.

Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah was expected to decide on the matter upon his return from abroad tomorrow.

"WALKOUT"

By Adrian Lai

SHAH ALAM: Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad’s tenure as the new PKR Youth chief got off to a rocky start today after at least half of his committee members staged a walkout just moments before making his inaugural speech.

Nik Nazmi was about to give his maiden speech as PKR Youth chief at the end of the wing’s annual congress held here, when at least nine out of its 20 newly elected committee members left the hall.

It is understood that the committee members walked out in protest of the election results, which saw Nik Nazmi edging out popular PKR leader Amirudin Shari by a razor-thin majority of 250 votes.

Nik Nazmi, who is also Selangor Deputy Speaker, obtained 4,509 votes, while Amirudin, who was originally touted to win, received 4,259 votes.

One of the committee members, who declined to be named, said he was unhappy with the results, claiming they were flawed and manipulated.

It is understood that the dissenters are aligned aligned with Amirudin.

Nik Nazmi, who is seen to be aligned to PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s camp, said he was unfazed by the purported walkout.

“My message to those who left the hall is simple: Let us all get down to business. We have no time for this as this is the nature of politics. In fact, I lost my old position in my own branch,” the seemingly undaunted leader told reporters later.

The Seri Setia assemblyman also shrugged off the walkout, saying he was confident that the current disagreements between him and the opposing camp were “temporary”.

“Our opponents are not in the hall, they are in Barisan Nasional. I am open to talking (to my detractors) but they must also show commitment that they are willing to work with me,” Nik Nazmi stressed.

When asked if Nik Nazmi would offer an olive branch to Amirudin by giving the latter a high-ranking post in PKR Youth, Nik Nazmi said it was too soon to decide on the matter.

Amirudin, who belongs to PKR deputy president Azmin Ali’s camp, was leading the race for the Youth post, but his supporters believe that the "questionable" election results in PKR’s Pensiangan branch recently had tipped the race in Nik Nazmi’s favour.