Pensiangan turns the tide for Rafizi

KOTA KINABALU: The interior Pensiangan division turned the tide in Sabah for Rafizi Ramli who secured 2,388 votes for the deputy presidency, with Datuk Seri Azmin Ali left trailing with 262 votes, according to unofficial results.

The results from the re-voting yesterday was likely to put both Azmin and Rafizi in a neck-and-neck race to win Sabah.

Until Saturday, Azmin, who is the incumbent deputy president, held an unofficial lead of between 2,000 and 2,500 votes in Sabah for PKR’s No.2 post.

“The Pensiangan election was smooth but a bit slow because only 60 pads were used though we prepared 80,” Sabah PKR election coordinator Rosli Masaliku said.

Rafizi had on Saturday won the Keningau polls with a razor-thin three votes. The results of the Tawau PKR re-vote yesterday was still not available in the evening, with several reports of “double voting” marring the process.

Pensiangan PKR is headed by Raymond Ahuar who is part of Rafizi’s camp while Tawau PKR is led by Datuk Kong Hong Ming who backs Azmin.

Meanwhile, Melaka PKR chief Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin said PKR chose its leaders based on capability and not ethnicity.

He said supporters of candidates vying for positions in the state re-election should not use religion to berate their rivals.