From the jeering and heckling during the proceedings, to the downright confusion over party stalwart and Subang MP R Sivarasa losing his bid for division chief, it would appear that even some media organisations were in the dark over what had really happened.

NONE But Sivarasa ( left) , a veteran lawyer, is shaking off the dust to recount his version of the story.

When speaking to Malaysiakini yesterday, he wanted to get one thing straight - that no legitimate election ever took place during the chaotic divisional annual general meeting last Sunday.

He also maintained that the elections were flawed from very beginning when the ballot papers the division received were found to be defective.

"There were all kinds of mistakes. Some names which were supposed to be there were not there, the names which were not supposed to be there were printed. The list was basically wrong," he said.

Nevertheless, the AGM had to proceed according to the agenda  right up to the nominations.

"It was not orderly. The chairperson could not control the proceedings and we could not carry on with the divisional elections," he said, adding that he managed to obtain 158 votes in the initial count to nominate him for vice-presidency in the party's national-level elections.

According to him, someone then objected, demanding a recount. By then, the tally in favour of Sivarasa had mysteriously dipped to 121.

"It was obvious that we couldn't go on since the ballot papers were defective and, in fact, the three other candidates for the divisional presidency post had asked for the postponement of the divisional elections," he said.

They then called for Sabaruddin Md Yasin, a member of the party elections committee to review the situation, who subsequently declared that the voting had to be postponed to a date yet to be confirmed.

Members held ‘hostage'

"We all then left the venue only to receive news that one particular candidate and his team had proceeded with his own counting and demanded that the members vote.

azlan "The members had voted under duress and in that situation they had ‘voted' against me. This candidate then declared himself winner," said Sivarasa, adding that he had received five votes from that counting.

"They take the rules into their own hands and even threatened the elections observer who subsequently lodged a police report.

"It's nothing but loutish, gangster behaviour from some of our members," he said, adding that disciplinary action should be taken against them.

While he said that he does not discount the fact that there were elements of ‘trojan horses' in his division, he attributed it more to the apparent thuggish behaviour of his opponents.

"They were just not happy at the thought of losing," he said, adding he had filed an official complaint at the party headquarters this afternoon, together with a detailed report of what had allegedly happened at the division meeting.

However, the self-proclaimed newly-elected deputy division chief V Sivam was quoted in another online portal as saying that the elections were already over and done with.

He also said that he received a certificate from the elections observer acknowledging the results of the elections.

Meanwhile, party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution had previously said that the matter was still under investigation. He is expected to hold a press conference on the matter on Monday.