Conspiracy to deny Nurul's candidacy?

Six PKR divisions are claiming that there is a conspiracy to deny Nurul Izzah Anwar's candidacy for deputy presidency in the upcoming party elections.

In separate statements, Selangau and Semporna divisions from Sabah - who nominated Nurul Izzah ( right ) for number two - claim that they were never informed that they must submit their list of nominees before the Oct 10 deadline.

"We were never informed of the deadline and it is unfair to deny Nurul Izzah from qualifying to contest as deputy president. Is this a conspiracy to stop her?" asked Semporna PKR division chief Lokman Uri.

Similarly, Selangau division chief Steven Epay Ganing said that any deadline must be must be properly publicised by the party to allow all divisions to take appropriate action.

"We see this as a oversight by the (election) organisers because they failed to (properly) coordinate the elections and we hope this is not an attempt to hinder Nurul Izzah from contesting.

In a joint statement, four divisions in Selangor said that they were "shocked" that nominations from 35 divisions were denied by the party headquarters for missing the Oct 10 deadline.

"We are equally puzzled by the fact that there was in existence the 10th October, 2010 deadline for submission of nomination papers as all of us, in addition to the 35 divisions, were unaware of such deadline," read the joint statement.

The statement was signed by division chiefs from Tanjung Karang, Petaling Jaya Utara and Putrajaya along with the acting division chief of Petaling Jaya Selatan.

Extend deadline

Meanwhile, PKR supreme council member S Manikavasagam has proposed that the election committee extend the deadline to Oct 16, to allow Nurul Izzah to qualify for the deputy presidency race.

"This will allow the divisions to fix whatever misunderstandings which may have occured," said Manikavasagam  ( right ) in a statement.

In another statement, former PKR communications director Jonson Chong said that Nurul Izzah should not be disqualified based on technicalities.

"It is good to have administrative processes but they must be transparent and serve the objectives of the party," he said.

All four statements were released slightly after noon today and appears to be coordinated to put pressure on the party election committee to allow Nurul Izzah to qualify for the contest.

The flurry of statements comes following committee's confirmation yesterday that Nurul Izzah failed to qualify for the deputy presidency race based on 160 nomination forms received from the party's 205 divisions.

Sec-gen's circular in July

Nurul Izzah needs two nominations to qualify for the race. She has received open backing from another deputy presidency aspirant Zaid Ibrahim.

In addition, Zaid said that he would pull out from the contest and support Nurul Izzah should the latter accept nominations.

According to a circular by PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution on July 19, the Oct 10 deadline was spelled out on item F, page six of the document.

Saifuddin and his deputy Sharifah Shahidah Syed Kamarulzaman had yet to respond to request for comments.