While it was already previously speculated that the 2,000-over delegates at the PKR's sixth annual congress would come armed with explosive revelations and sordid exposés that would appall even Graham Greene, the entire proceedings almost fell flat on those expectations.

pkr congress agm kota baru 300510 crowd There were none of the heated debates on the defections, as previously hinted at.

The party's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim had fueled expectations with his Friday morning press statement preceding the congress, promising to reveal the "millionaire turncoats ".

But all that transpired was deputy president Syed Husin's hints about the defectors who had received contracts, or those who walked because they did not get the cushy government posts they were after.

Nothing explosive, nor sordid.

The delegates, expected to debate the incidence of defections, served up nothing more than name-calling the gamut from "frogs" to "prostitutes".

State governments targeted

Much of the heat was instead reserved for the Pakatan state government administrations, in particular Selangor under MB Khalid Ibrahim.

But as valid as the issues were, debates offered nothing more than an unending barrage of salvos.

Concerns raised varied from the genuine, to the outright ludicrous.

pkr bk convention khalid ibrahim broke down Some urged Khalid ( right ) to remove deadwood government officials, some criticised the communications methods, and others pressured for post allocations to "qualified party members".

Khalid held his ground well, clearly tugging at the heartstrings of his audience.

In spite of a standing ovation for his emotional performance, his arguments did not actually amount to much at all.

It is to be expected: when you ask a vague question, expect a vague answer.

The line of questioning by the delegates could only indicate two things. Either they believe Khalid’s will have to buck up or face the voters' ire, or PKR members in general are dim to the former corporate giant's idea of good governance.

Reformasi within PKR

The string of defections - which averages one every three months - has provoked numerous calls for a reformation of the party.

The youth members were especially angry with the leadership for not doing enough to impress the party’s ideology and struggles onto its members.

pkr congress agm kota baru 300510 saifuddin They also complained that the leadership was aloof to the needs of the younger generation, which led Khalid to counter by setting the challenge for the young to step up as future leaders.

But reformation is under way in the reformist party.

By the same time next year, PKR members will have felt the full force of amendments to the party constitution.

Among the more radical changes are the lowering of the Youth wing age limit to 35, and the implementation of direct elections, enabling all party members to vote in the party polls.

Secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail ( above ) gave the delegates a brief run-through of what to expect in the upcoming party elections, which would include the members voting at their own respective divisions.

PKR maturing

On the bright side, the PKR delegates deserve credit for tackling the debates - apart from the initial blitzkrieg of complaints against the state administrations - in a far more mature manner than other political parties.

pkr congress agm kota baru 300510 crowd Gone were the days of harping on racial issues and picking fights with DAP or PAS. Instead, they focused on cooperation and lending the fellow coalition partners a hand, especially in governing a state.

This year’s congress was also a benchmark for the women debaters, who made up more than a third of the whole debaters roll.

Their performance so impressed supreme council member Khalid Jaafar that he commented by twitter that they were mature and disciplined, preparing their texts well in contrast to the men who spoke mainly off the cuff, and mostly merapu (spoke nonsense).

Despite the harsh debates an overall mood of jollity pervaded. Many speakers peppered their speeches with jokes intentional or not, to diffuse intense and often uncomfortable situations. Khalid in particular had the audience in stitches over his failed attempts at reciting a pantun to conclude his speech.

Jokes aside, it is clear that party delegates do not like what they see in some areas of the leadership.

Whether their concerns are taken up and rectified, or whether they lapse from short memory, as Anwar has been known to say, will be revealed at the next party elections just under six months away.