KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy presidential candidate Mustaffa Kamil Ayub has not ruled out the possibility of following in Zaid Ibrahim's footsteps in withdrawing from the race.
"I am not pulling out... yet," he told FMT when contacted today.
"I will be submitting a memorandum to the central election commission (CEC) tomorrow with details of discrepencies in the election process and (will) seek a postponement of the party polls for this precise reason.
"I will give the CEC some time to think about it, but if I don't receive a proper and satisfactory response from the CEC, I may withdraw from the race," said Mustaffa.
When asked how long a timeframe he would give the CEC before he walks away from the election, he said: "I will decide on that tonight after discussions with my team."
Zaid, who was recently elected as PKR Federal Territories chief, announced his resignation via a blog posting at 3am this morning.
He attributed his decision to failure by the party's leadership to address accusations of electoral discrepancies in the contest for the deputy post despite persistent complaints. He has also resigned from all posts in the party.
However, PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution clarified this morning that Zaid is still in the race as the party had yet to receive an official notice of withdrawal from him.
But Zaid said he will not submit any such letter, adding that his announcement through his blog is sufficient.
Last week, Mustaffa joined Zaid in demanding that the election be halted until all grouses are resolved.
Today, he said that Zaid's withdrawal was a clear indication of his lack of confidence in the election process which puts the CEC in a very bad spot.
"In a race there is always a winner and a loser, and each contender has to accept that he could be in either position," he said. "But all contenders also expect the race to be fair, transaprent and on a level playing field. Right now, both the level playing field and the referree – the CEC –are in question."
"This is a very serious situation. The voice of the people at large must be heard and their issues addressed properly by the CEC.
“Otherwise, there will be tension on the ground," he said.
Unexpected move
Mustaffa, however, was taken aback when informed that Zaid had also resigned from all party posts.
"It is of course his decision but it shows the extent of his frustrations with the party... to resign from party posts is a very strong sign of protest," he said.
Mustaffa also urged that the CEC chairperson, Dr Molly Cheah, be empowered and given the full mandate to run the elections.
Cheah had recently indicated that she was no longer involved in the management of the election process, while party insiders alleged that the election process was being conducted entirely by party members.
"I repeat my call that the main personnel in the CEC be revamped. They are staff to certain leaders and cannot assume a neutral position, which is crucial for an election," Mustaffa said.
As of last night, an unofficial tally from a total of 75 divisions that held polling so far showed that Mustaffa had garnered 1,208 votes. He is trailing behind Azmin Ali (6,502) and Zaid (3,973).
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