A key faction in Keadilan plans to challenge the vote that approved the amendments to the party's constitution related to the merger with PRM.

Kuala Pilah division chief Noordin Ismail, one of the 22 delegates who walked out of the recent annual general meeting in Sungai Petani, Kedah, argued that the party did not obtain the necessary quorum to change its constitution.

He said the quorum should based on the number of delegates registered with the 137 branches nationwide, which is 822 50 percent of 1,644.

However, this was not the case in Sungai Petani, where the quorum was based on the number of delegates who had registered at the AGM, which is 583 half of 1,165.

Noordin said the group had raised the issue with Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and she assured them that it would be discussed at the party's supreme council meeting.

The group is also dissatisfied with the voting process which was by a show of hands. They said this method was flawed as there were non-delegates present during the count.

"We are especially upset that we could not get to clarify these matters at the AGM. We will take this matter up. We will not do it legally but politically," he told malaysiakini .

However, Noordin declined to elaborate on the group's next step.

Gang of Four

At the AGM last month, the group led by former Youth deputy chief Mustapha Kamil Ayub held a press conference to criticise the party for not allowing delegates to debate the constitutional amendments.

Mustapha was ousted by current Youth deputy chief Saifuddin Nasution Ismail at the party's AGM in Kemaman last year.

He is one of the 'Gang of Four' who failed in their bid for top party posts. The others were former secretary-general Anuar Tahir, information chief Ruslan Kassim and Mohd Nur Manuty.

Mohd Nur lost the contest for the deputy president post which was won by Abdul Rahman Othman.

After their failed bid, Ruslan was appointed to his present post while the others rejected positions in the party offered by Wan Azizah.

The impending merger with PRM has stalled for over a year because Keadilan failed narrowly to obtain the required two-thirds majority to amend the constitution at its AGM in Kemaman last year.

With the amendments, the party's name will be changed to Parti Keadilan Rakyat. Other changes include the party's turquoise blue flag and symbol, which will incorporate two red stripes on each side to reflect PRM's presence.

The merger between the two opposition parties has been strenuously opposed by groups in Keadilan purportedly linked to Abim.

Vote counting conducted with care

In an immediate response, Keadilan secretary-general Sahri Bahari said the complaints will be raised in the next supreme council meeting at the end of this month.

"Whatever decision made will be the party's decision, not the president's alone," he said, dismissing speculation that decisions were made by only a faction of the supreme council members.

On the issue of quorum, Sahri explained that it is based on 50 percent of those who were qualified to attend the AGM, out of which, two thirds are required to amend the constitution.

At the party's AGM last month, 1,165 delegates were qualified to attend the AGM but only 906 registered. Thus, the party needed only 583 delegates to make the quorum.

A delegate is only considered qualified to attend the AGM after he or she has paid annual membership fees.

Out of the 906 who had registered to attend the AGM last month, 640 voted in favour of the merger while 29 were against it.

Sahri also stressed that the counting of the votes were done with great care, where delegates who voted were asked to stand and show their hands.

He added that delegates were also made to sit on designated rows, according to their divisions, and observers were made to sit at the back of the hall.

"There was a clear demarcation between delegates and observers. The 60 officials who were on duty were told specifically to count only those who wore delegate tags," he said.

"Everyone could see the delegates who voted. We did this instead of secret balloting so that we can clear any speculation that the votes were manipulated," he added.