As the curtains were raised for the two-day PKR annual congress this morning, there was anticipation over how party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail would address the recently concluded party elections.

But as expected, the party leadership was quick to go on damage control over how their first ever direct elections were conducted, complete with a video presentation accompanied by dramatic orchestral background music.

pkr congress 271110 crowd With words thrown about such as “democracy fiesta” and a “celebration of democracy” in both Saifuddin and party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s opening speeches, it was still hard to ignore the protest that took place outside the function hall.

Although there are doubts on whether the majority of protestors were actually party members, there is no doubt however that there are some serious flaws in the electoral process which had yet to be addressed.

Take this morning for example, the simple exercise of electing a deputy permanent chairperson was also marred with claims that a candidate was not listed despite having received the necessary number of nominations.

Sounding the battle-cry for GE

If Saifuddin’s very terse explanation over the incident was given during the actual elections process, it is undoubted that he would have come under more attack by party members as merely “glossing over”.

But the fact that most delegates didn’t put up much of a challenge to this could either translate to general disillusionment, or the fact that they just want to move on after this exhausting episode.

While only one delegate outrightly showed his displeasure at the elections process during today’s debate, many others were in fact giving more constructive criticism on how to improve it for the next round.

Youth delegate Lee Khai Loon had called for, among other things, a cap on the campaign spending as well as an integrity pact, while Melaka delegate Md Yusof Abdullah suggested that new members should serve a certain period of time before being allowed to contest.

But top on many delegates' agenda is to mainly close ranks, move on and prepare for the next general elections.

Sarawak delegates Granda Aing and Ahmad Nazib Johari were particularly more concerned about the impending state elections that has to be called by June next year.

Still sore over Zaid

But if there is any recurring theme since the party’s inception in 1998, it was the members’ disdain for the mainstream media and their adoration for de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Almost every single delegate had hit out at the perceived party enemy, Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia and the mainstream media in general over the coverage of the party elections.

Ranging from labelling the press such as “prostitutes” and “tools”, the delegates were surprisingly more restrained in their criticism of former Federal Territories PKR chief Zaid Ibrahim.

Despite not mentioning his name, it is evident that delegates are still sore with him.

pkr congress 271110 anwar “The role of BN and Umno is to attack Anwar... but when there are voices within the party questioning his position as the de facto leader, this really saddens us,” said Terengganu delegate Fariz Musa.

Although the wounds from the Zaid-debacle evidently still fresh, it appears to have led to an introspective mood among delegates.

With snap polls looming, the general sentiment expressed centered on the need to quickly close ranks, leaving the usual dose of Umno-bashing on the wayside.

The 7th PKR congress will end tomorrow with the official announcement of the new leadership which will spearhead the party in both the upcoming Sarawak and national polls.