COMMENTARY, Oct 27 — PKR’s election is a story that writes itself, really. Think about the worst possible scenario and chances are it has already happened or will at some point or another during the ongoing election process.
Bloody chair fights. Scuffles. Allegations of corruption, vote-buying, and phantom voters. Police reports. Death threats.
Reads like fiction, except that it isn’t. Google search the keywords “PKR” and “election” and I guarantee you stories with these themes will appear.
PKR’s party election is littered with claims similar to those made by the party against the former Barisan Nasional (BN) government before May 9, 2018.
Back when BN was still in power, PKR and other Pakatan Harapan (PH) parties made it a point to question the transparency in the country’s electoral process, accusing BN of vote-buying, corruption, and allegedly employing the use of phantom voters.
All have been featured in PKR’s election. Here’s a short recap of what has taken place so far:
In Sarawak, the state PKR claimed that the registration of 13,178 new members in the Julau branch was “not genuine, but made by stealing personal data and information without the knowledge of the owners and, therefore, not proper”.
In parts of Selangor like Selayang, there have been calls to revise the existing PKR electoral roll following claims of phantom voters, when some individuals believed to be from Sabah were barred from entering the polling centre at Bandar Country Homes by sceptical party members.
PKR deputy presidential hopeful Rafizi Ramli recently alleged that some division members were being offered between RM100,000 and RM200,000 to vote and that there are states where voters are given RM100 for each e-ballot.
In states like Kedah and Penang where the party elections kicked off last month, members have complained of issues surrounding the use of the e-voting system — they either don’t know how to use it or even if they do, there have been “technical” glitches.
The irony is not lost on me. BN should tell PKR to take a good, hard look in the mirror and see whether the shoe also fits on the other side.
But I digress. To be fair to PKR, what they’ve set out to achieve in their party election is no simple task.
Unlike any other party in the country, PKR has set out to empower each and every member to cast their individual vote and decide on who should lead the party. And that is something worth commending, which is an effort to actually realise true democracy.
But what about the execution of the plan? The one-person-one-vote system comes at a time when the party’s membership has spiked exponentially, from roughly around 400,000 members to almost 800,000 in a mere span of months after GE14.
Was there proper vetting for these members? Should all these “new” recruits have been allowed to vote in the first place? What motivates people to aggressively join a political party that just won the general election, and currently has the biggest representation in Parliament?
You tell me. Because PKR certainly hasn’t said a thing.
Another question is the issue of e-voting. Why was it pushed ahead despite concerns of the party’s ability to utilise a system which did not undergo any stringent dry runs or field tests? There were only a handful of briefings before the system was pushed ahead.
PKR leaders will tell you that it is cheaper than having the normal ballot system. In fact, secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the party will maintain its e-voting system despite complaints and claims of irregularities, insisting that issues with the party election were rooted in the behaviour of members instead.
At this point, you’re probably wondering: Why should we care about the PKR election? It does not affect Malaysians.
The answer is, you should care because the majority of Malaysians voted in this party to lead the country out of the mess the previous government landed us in.
We should care because the major factions within PKR are fighting tooth-and-nail for a spot next to the right ear of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the prime minister-in-waiting.
If we do not care, we run the risk of not holding these politicians accountable, and they will fail us, as unchecked politicians are wont to do.
I do care because, on paper, PKR is the way forward for the country’s politics: a multiracial political party held together by democratic ideals that transcend race or ethnicity.
I also care because there are so many capable young leaders within PKR, and it has the potential to do better, to be better.
But recent events have shown that even the ones you look up to can disappoint.
So please PKR. Fix yourself before you wreck yourself.
