Rafizi claims Labis polls tainted, should be nullified

PKR POLLS | PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli has written to the party's election committee (JPP) to demand that election by the Labis division yesterday be nullified.

In a letter to the JPP head Rashid Din and disciplinary committee head Syed Hussin Ali, Rafizi claimed that JPP personnel had manipulated the voters.

"The JPP officials had clearly engaged in campaigning by swapping our list of candidates with a different list at the voting centre.

"In many cases, the JPP personnel also voted on behalf of those who did not have the skills to operate a tablet (computer)," said Rafizi in the letter sighted by Malaysiakini.

Malaysiakini has been shown a video clip of the alleged infringement of rules. Several individuals were seen hovering above the shoulders of people who were operating the tablet computers.

The video had a caption accusing JPP personnel aligned to a person who belonged to a PKR faction that Rafizi was not part of. Malaysiakini cannot independently verify the allegation.

Rafizi, who is vying for the deputy presidency, also argued that he had proof that his allies had managed to mobilise 178 members to vote yet he only received 75 votes while incumbent deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali received 196 votes.

Rafizi explained he had in his possession 178 receipts that were issued to those who paid their RM2 membership fee in order qualify to vote.

"The entire episode lasted throughout the day. When my representative protested, they (the JPP) stopped interfering for a while, but eventually resumed," he said.

Rafizi also accused the JPP of failing to ensure that their personnel conducting the voting process were neutral. He also accused the JPP personnel stationed at the Labis election of being aligned to his rivals.

"I will submit a detailed report on how the JPP from Gombak, Ampang, Subang and other Selangor divisions were placed at various locations throughout Johor which led to suspicious victories," he said.

In addition, Rafizi said that the Labis PKR division was inactive and yet the JPP had allowed for members to vote for the central leadership council, national youth wing, and Wanita wing elections.

Checks on PKR's election website showed that the Labis PKR division only held elections for national-level positions and not the division level.

According to Malaysiakini's tally of results from the Johor election, Azmin edged out Rafizi by a vote of 4,271 to 3,743. This is pending confirmation by the JPP who will need to resolve about 1,000 undi ragu (doubtful votes) who were allowed to vote despite not being on the membership list.

In a related development, Malacca PKR vice-chief G Rajendran urged the JPP to invalidate the elections for Tebrau, Ledang and Pontian on grounds that the JPP personnel conducting the elections there were not neutral.

"The elections in Tebrau, Ledang and Pontian divisions were run by JPP from Gombak, Ampang and Subang divisions. We know who controls those divisions in Selangor," he said.

Meanwhile, Serdang PKR division deputy chief R Suresh Kumar urged Rafizi and his supporters to boycott the elections.

"I am very disappointed with this election. It was tainted by JPP personnel who were biased and were clearly cheating," he said.

He also questioned why some divisions were allowed to run the election for other divisions, as alleged by Rafizi and Rajendran.

"Why can't it be a combination of representatives from different divisions?" he asked.

"The integrity of the JPP is highly questionable. There was manipulation in Kedah which led to problems. These (irregularities) will continue in the coming weeks. I urge (Rafizi and his team) to boycott the elections." - Mkini