No 'invisible hands' in PKR elections, says election committee
The party constitution amendments, approved on Dec 15, last year, had introduced the proportional representation system as the method for selecting the party leadership.
SHAH ALAM - Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) has strongly denied claims of irregularities or manipulation in its internal election process held last Friday, following allegations of 'invisible hands' by a former party candidate.
The Central Election Committee (CEC) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Zaliha Mustafa said that the party constitution amendments, approved on Dec 15, last year, had introduced the proportional representation system as the method for selecting the party leadership.
Through this system, a total of 32,021 delegates were eligible to vote at the Central Leadership Council (MPP), Women’s Wing and Youth Wing (AMK) levels.
“Out of that number, 18,268 votes were recorded, 12,618 online votes and 5,650 physical votes, resulting in a voter turnout of 57.05 per cent.
“Specifically, for the MPP level, 22,081 delegates were eligible to vote and 13,752 actually did.
“This means that 8,329 delegates did not vote. These are not missing votes as claimed,” she told Sinar on Sunday.
Dr Zaliha made the statement in response to concerns raised by former PKR Kuala Selangor branch chief candidate, Mohd Faizal Abdul Rahman, who alleged that "invisible hands" were involved in the PKR 2025 election process after 8,329 delegate votes were said to be missing without solid explanation.
Additionally, she said that for the Deputy President post, a total of 13,669 votes were received out of the 13,752 who voted.
She elaborated that the difference of 83 votes was likely due to some delegates choosing not to vote for that position.
“This is not unusual, as our system allows delegates the right to vote for any position, or not vote at all. That is their right,” she said.
Dr Zaliha also called for a rational view on the issue of more than half of the delegates not voting.
She said a 57 per cent turnout is still reasonable for an organisational election, especially when conducted on a working day.
“As for claims of delays in the announcement of results, I stress that such claims are inaccurate.
“After the voting process ended at 5pm, within about half an hour, candidate representatives were called in to witness the vote extraction process by the auditor.
“Unofficial results were also communicated to them at that time.
“The official announcement I made on the night of Friday, 23 May, was merely a formality, which was initially scheduled for noon on Saturday. Therefore, the issue of delay does not arise,” she clarified.
Download Sinar Daily application.Click Here!
