Underworld activity and gangsterism are believed to be the key reasons for the fracas during the party leadership elections at several PKR branches in Selangor two weeks ago.

In the case of voting at the Kota Raja and Kuala Langat branches, the involvement of gangsters to sabotage the party elections has already been confirmed, PKR central election committee (JPP) chief Johari Abdul said today.

The incidents are still being investigated by the JPP, which said it has received, and is studying, many videos of the incident and is appealing to the public for more evidence.

“The issue now is to identify the individuals involved. If (investigations) confirm this, then further action will be taken, including the lodging police reports,” Johari told a press conference at the party headquarters in Petaling Jaya today.

He said this was because the groups used the same modus operandi, which included targeting the ballot boxes after 2.30pm and trying to scatter ballot papers on the floor.

"As a safety measure, there are some details that we are not disclosing, to protect the informants involved in the investigation," Johari said.

This followed investigations into several complaints and objections from some party branches that non-members had disrupted the election process.

'Not able to pinpoint gang involved'

However, Johari added, he was not able to pinpoint which gang was involved in the disruptions on May 11.

That day, voting at several PKR branches were disrupted and had to be cancelled following allegations of sabotage and lack of transparency, including at the Subang, Hulu Langat and Sabak Bernam branches.

So far, a total of 35 PKR branches nationwide are facing re-election as a result of various complaints. The party has also sacked four members in relation to the fracas.

Meanwhile, Johari said it is “not fair” to invalidate the party elections results so far and conduct a re-election, since the problems occurred only at a few branches.

“This problem did not occur in the majority of the branches. Although there are many complaints, these originated from just a few branches. It is also unfair to members who have already voted,” he said.

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