Rafizi Ramli and Nurul Izzah are in a straight fight for the PKR deputy presidency, which Rafizi won in the 2022 party elections. Nurul Izzah, who did not contest then, was appointed a party vice-president.

Nurul Izzah, the daughter of party president Anwar Ibrahim, was seen as the clear favourite to win the race after more than 200 of the 222 PKR divisions stated their support for her.

Rafizi, the Pandan MP, previously said he would resign as economy minister if he lost the post to Nurul Izzah.

A total of 32,030 delegates were eligible to cast their votes for the PKR central leadership elections.

The results are still being tallied and are expected to be released at 9pm.

Nurul Izzah’s purported lead in the race follows a claim by an aide to Rafizi who said this evening that he had lost.

In a Facebook post at 6.38pm, Syukri Razab said: “Alhamdulillah. We lost. That is the story.”

The source said the top four in the running for the vice-president’s posts so far are Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari, Negeri Sembilan menteri besar Aminuddin Harun, science, technology and innovation minister Chang Lih Kang, and Sungai Buloh MP R Ramanan.

Fadhlina Sidek, the education minister, and Juwairiya Zulkifli are in the lead for the posts of Wanita chief and deputy chief, respectively.