Clashes at party polls in three PKR divisions

PETALING JAYA: Chaos erupted again at PKR party polls at three of the seven Selangor PKR divisions, believed to be due to clashes between supporters of deputy presidential contenders Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and Rafizi Ramli.
Videos of the fracas showing scenes of brawling supporters at voting centres for the Puchong and Gombak divisions were making the rounds on social media.
Two incidents broke out today at the polls, the first in the Gombak division at the Sungai Tua voting centre after a party member from the Lembah Pantai division was spotted inside the hall.
The matter was taken outside the hall by rival members.
Later, another fight broke out when party workers noticed supporters wearing red T-shirts with Azmin's name inside the polling centre (Sungai Tua), instructing some of the voters to vote for Azmin.
However, the situation calmed down and Selangor Mentri Besar Amirudin Shari, who arrived after the commotion, denied that what took place was a 'fight'.
"No, not a fight. Just ordinary shouting. The weather is quite hot but the situation is under control. We hope the police can control the situation better than on previous occasions," he said.
For the Puchong division, two large groups of rival supporters were seen being separated by the main gate of the voting centre at the Subang Jaya Municipal Council multipurpose hall in Seri Kembangan.
In the third incident, it is learnt that an unconfirmed number of Petaling Jaya Utara division members were arrested over claims of phantom voters.
The second phase of the PKR election for Selangor involved seven of the 22 divisions in the state.
The seven divisions are Puchong, Gombak, Petaling Jaya (PJ) Utara, PJ Selatan, Kuala Langat, Klang and Selayang.
Puchong has 17,149 members, Gombak (9,921), PJ Utara (6,136), PJ Selatan (7,609), Kuala Langat (14,121), Klang (12,998) and Selayang (15,104).
The first phase of the PKR polls in Selangor, involving nine divisions on Oct 14, saw Azmin taking the lead in the contest for the PKR deputy president's post against his sole contender Rafizi.
Azmin garnered 9,337 votes, while Rafizi, who is incumbent party vice-president, obtained 8,563 votes (for Selangor).