Rafizi's accusations 'false, regrettable', PKR election committee says

Rafizi's accusations 'false, regrettable', PKR election committee says


Published: May 12, 2025 10:12 AM
Updated: 12:25 PM


Summary

• PKR's election committee refutes Rafizi Ramli's claim that it had been slow to act on complaints

• It says all complaints were reviewed carefully, and that Rafizi is aware of this.

PKR's election committee has denied party deputy president Rafizi Ramli's accusation that it failed to function effectively during the recent divisional polls.

Labelling Rafizi's claims as "false and regrettable", the committee's deputy chairperson, Ahmad Kasim, stressed that its processes were carried out transparently in line with existing regulations.

Previously, Rafizi criticised the PKR election process and the failure of the election committee, accusing its chairperson, Dr Zaliha Mustafa, of not addressing complaints regarding alleged irregularities.

In dismissing Rafizi's allegations, Ahmad said that every complaint and objection filed had been given serious consideration and treated professionally and fairly.

He also highlighted that the party's central leadership council had on Feb 23 approved the election regulations, followed by confirmation from the political bureau on March 3.

Noting that Rafizi is part of both bodies, Ahmad said key developments were regularly reported to the council, making it "unlikely" for Rafizi to be "unaware" of measures taken.

Official response soon

"The rules clearly state that any objection or appeal must be accompanied by sufficient evidence, and the burden of proof lies with the complainant," he said in a statement last night.

"Throughout the party elections, we received a total of 289 objections and complaints involving various aspects of the polling process, including nominations, appeals, candidates list finalisation, campaigning, and voting.

"All complaints were reviewed carefully. Some were referred to the secretary-general’s office and the party’s disciplinary board for further action according to their jurisdictions," he added.

He also assured that while the committee is still in the process of addressing some of the complaints, an official response will be provided soon.

"The committee remains fully dedicated to carrying out its responsibilities to ensure the party election process is fair, free, clean, transparent, and conducted with integrity," Ahmad said.

Technical review finds discrepancies

Earlier, the independent auditor tasked with evaluating PKR divisional and branch-level polls reported that the e-voting system functioned effectively, though with certain shortcomings requiring enhancement.

Several minor anomalies, such as issues with candidate sequence number display, application message confusion, and timing discrepancies, were identified and analysed by Yinuo Technology.

However, in its digital audit and forensic investigation report, the auditor said these issues were primarily related to front-end display bugs or user interface clarity and did not affect the core vote-counting logic or historical vote results.

Following the audit analysis, an independent technical review commissioned by an unsuccessful Puchong PKR candidate, Anbarasan Murugesu, identified a list of alleged discrepancies in the e-voting system.

The review, conducted by two IT experts, found that a minority report had previously highlighted these issues and advocated for more thorough scrutiny, contending that the official audit had minimised their significance without sufficient evidence or justification.

Many who were known to be Rafizi's allies had lost to ordinary members in the divisional polls, which were held between April 11 and April 20.

However, the PKR central leadership committee ultimately moved to accept the results, paving the way for the central party election on May 23.