A leadership election is scheduled to be held by the People's Justice Party (PKR) in Malaysia from 14 March to 23 May 2025 to elect new leadership at the central and branch levels.
This leadership election will be the first since party president Anwar Ibrahim became the Prime Minister of Malaysia and the second since PKR became a ruling party, after the 2018 PKR leadership election. This leadership election is considered very important for the party's direction for the next general election that will expected in 2027.
The voting of this leadership election is only opened to some delegates, instead of all party members. The number of delegates eligible to vote is expected to be more than 20,000, and each party division has 12 delegates. According to Vice President of PKR, Chang Lih Kang, this was to save time and effort while maintaining democracy.
Party chairman of the international bureau of PKR, Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin revealed the possibility that the top two party positions, the presidency and deputy presidency may not be involved in this leadership election, similar to the 2023 United Malays National Organisation leadership election.
The current president of PKR, Anwar Ibrahim won unopposed after no other candidate submitted a form to contest the position on 9 May 2025. Anwar also managed to retain his position for the third consecutive times, after the PKR leadership election held in 2018 and 2022.
This leadership election focuses on the position of Deputy President of PKR, where the daughter of the Prime Minister of Malaysia and President of PKR, Nurul Izzah Anwar, will contest the position with the incumbent, Mohd Rafizi Ramli, who is also the Minister of Economy. Minister of Home Affairs and Secretary-General of PKR, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail make the decision to withdraw from contesting the position of Deputy President of PKR in this leadership election. This decision was announced by the Special Officer to the Minister of Home Affairs, Omar Mokhtar A Manap on 9 May 2025 in a brief statement to the media. He added that the decision was taken as a result of discussions with many parties, including the top leadership of PKR.
The leadership election saw two major factions vying for key positions within the party.
The HIRUK () faction (Hidupkan Idealisme Reformasi dalam Ujian Kuasa) is led by Rafizi Ramli, Minister of Economy and Member of Parliament for Pandan. Among the key party figures aligned with the faction are Aminuddin Harun, Chang Lih Kang, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and Rodziah Ismail. It advocates for a more confrontational approach that embodied PKR's early reformist zeal, opposing a big tent and cooperation with parties like UMNO. The campaign was themed around eliminating the alleged "cartel" surrounding PKR President Anwar Ibrahim along with alleged money politics and nepotism within the party. It has a base of support amongst party grassroots, urban liberals, and progressives.
The DAMAI () faction (Dari Akar, Membina Aspirasi Inklusif) is led by Nurul Izzah Anwar, co-chairperson of the Secretariat of the Special Advisory Body to the Minister of Finance. It is joined by key party figures such as Amirudin Shari, Ramanan Ramakrishnan, Adam Adli Abd Halim, Fadhlina Sidek and Muhammad Kamil Munim. It represents the party establishment that supports coalition-building and forging closer ties with UMNO. The campaign manifesto pledged to strengthen and focus on the future of the party along with helping the sandwich generation escape the cocoon of poverty. Its support is derived from local leaders, with over 200 of 222 divisions pledging support, along with party veterans and conservatives who wish to emulate PKR into a 'reformed' UMNO.
The leadership election was marred with allegations of weaknesses in the implementation of the online voting system (e-voting). Rafizi Ramli, the party's deputy president, claimed that the results at the divisional level were like "a body without a head", owing to many division leaders opposed to Rafizi winning despite the rest of their 'team' losing. There have been protests by losing candidates to re-examine the results at the divisional level, such as the defeat of Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad to Afdlin Shauki in Setiawangsa along with Akmal Nasir's defeat to Taufiq Ismail in Johor Bahru. However, the PKR Central Leadership Council (MPP) confirmed and finalized the election results for all 220 branches nationwide on 5 May 2025 after an external audit found no irregularities.
A video went viral on Twitter showing Ramanan Ramakrishnan, a vice-presidential candidate aligned with DAMAI, handing out money to several people at Sungai Buloh's Pusat Khidmat Rakyat. However, Ramanan denied the accusation that they were bribes to supporters, instead claiming it was an old clip of hand-outs to his staff personnel after the 2023 Selangor state election.
The following is a list of branch leaders, AMK leaders, and women leaders who won the elections.