200 PKR members call for a halt to party election

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PETALING JAYA: A group of about 200 Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) members staged a protest in front of the party’s headquarters here calling for an immediate halt to the party’s elections which they said were not transparent and caused injustice to the candidates.

The protest, which started at 10.30am and ended at noon, was led by former PKR deputy secretary-general S Jenapala Perumal.

They shouted “Hidup Zaid” (Long Live Zaid) in support of former Federal Territory PKR chairman Datuk Zaid Ibrahim who withdrew from the deputy presidency race this week, claiming irregularities in the election process.

Zaid was however not present despite earlier talks that he might lead the protest.

They also carried banners criticising PKR advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and PKR vice-president Mohamed Azmin Ali.

“Shame on you Anwar,” reads one of the banner. Speaking to reporters, Jenapala Perumal said they wanted the party elections to be stopped.

“A total of 162 complaints had been made to the central leadership committee, not even one had been settled. We are here to show our protests, that members are not happy with the party elections,” he said.

Former Selangor PKR treasurer KS Kottapan who was also among the protesters, said the party’s opaque election process had deprived him of his rights to contest.

“This is not a clean election. I call on the leadership to stop the elections and reconvene the elections at the divisional level,” he said, adding that he fully support Zaid’s call for Anwar and Azmin to step down.

“We should change our leaders to make sure PKR continues to progress,” he said. — Bernama