A PKR election candidate has disputed claims by party vice-president Rafizi Ramli that the chaos during party elections over the weekend was due to "sabotage".
PKR vice-presidency candidate K Vasantha Kumar, who witnessed the troubles in Merbok, Kedah, on Saturday, said there were problems with the electronic voting system as well as a lack of election committee staff.
He said the lack of manpower resulted in some of the election candidates doubling up as election committee staff.
"This is what raised the ire of some candidates, which later resulted in chaos.
"The majority of those who were present to vote in the Merbok division last Saturday are not well educated. They are also not well versed in the new e-voting system, which is being implemented for the first time.
"Rafizi's baseless allegations against the party grassroots is saddening. I was there in Merbok when the fights broke out. Rafizi has to investigate first before slandering party members," Vasantha Kumar told Malaysiakini.
He further urged the PKR leadership to rectify the voting system and retain the "manual" system used in the 2010 and 2014 party elections.
"Rafizi is hated across the country because the e-voting system is his brainchild and it is burdensome to voters.
"So far, more than 13 people have been arrested and all of them are Indian voters. They came out to cast their votes for the leader of their choice," Vasantha Kumar said.
He added the some of the arrested members are supporters of Rafizi, who is going against Azmin Ali for the deputy president's post.
"Therefore, there is no logic in saying that the fight happened to make Rafizi lose in the Merbok division. Rafizi has to concur with the fact that the weakness of the e-voting system is the main reason behind the chaos," he said.
The chaos at several divisions in Perlis, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Malacca, stemming from the technical issues in the e-voting system, caused the elections at the involved divisions to be postponed.
Voting results from the party elections in Kedah were also invalidated.
On the contrary, PKR's Bukit Selambau assemblyperson R Summugam said that there were indeed elements of sabotage against Rafizi at several divisional elections last Saturday.
"I contested for the Merbok division chief's post. And I can confirm that there was sabotage against Rafizi," said Summugam, who is also a Kedah exco member.
According to him, several individuals at the polling centre deliberately caused a commotion at the venue, which eventually escalated into full-blown chaos.
Summugam, who is a supporter of Rafizi, urged the party leadership to take strict action against those who try to raise problems at party elections. -Mkini
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