BUTTERWORTH: PKR Youth deputy chief Dr Afif Bahardin has once again urged both PKR election committee and Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, to take responsibility and solve the e-voting problems.
He said the election fiasco, particularly in Kedah over the weekend, had tarnished the party’s image and integrity.
He pointed out that Saifuddin, as the party's secretary-general, should be more proactively in finding a solution to the problems and return the members’ trust to the party.
“We are not blaming him but we are questioning the entire process. He should be taking a more proactive role and must know that e-voting system is not able to convince the grassroots.
“This is becase the system lacks integrity, and at the end of the day, the results cannot be accepted by members, who feel there are discrepancies,” he said when commenting on the PKR elections fiasco.
Dr Afif, who is Penang Agriculture and Agro-based Industries, Rural Development and Health Committee chairman, said this when met in Seberang Jaya this morning when checking out the preparations for the Seberang Prai Festival.
Explaining further, Dr Afif said he has good working relations with Saifuddin and that he was merely voicing out his opinion.
He said he viewed the problems faced by the e-voting system as serious and understood the members’ concerns.
“The PKR central committee was only involved in making the decisions and not the implementation.
“It is the secretary-general’s office and the election committee that implemented the whole system and managed the process,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, asked on the petition by several state PKR divisions for a re-election, Dr Afif said he had no issue with it as it was their right.
“It is the candidates’ and members’ rights to start petitions. So, it is now up to the party leadership to decide on the petitions,” he said.
PKR for the first time implemented an e-voting system for its ongoing party elections but issues led to chaos during polling, particularly in Kedah, causing the elections to be postponed there.