A group claiming to be New Generation Party (NewGen) members have disputed the legitimacy of the party's move to elect new leaders and rename the party as Parti Bebas Rasuah. 

NewGen president G Kumaar Aamaan and Mohd Zaini Jaafar claimed that the party's members and leadership were not consulted over this. 

Mohd Zaini said former NewGen secretary-general S Gobi Krishnan never notified party members about the impending changes in the party structure or name. 

"Furthermore, the change of the party name to Parti Bebas Rasuah has not been mandated by the Registrar of Societies," said Mohd Zaini, who claims to be the party's acting secretary-general.

However, Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor, the current president of the rebranded party, disputed such claims and said Parti Bebas Rasuah's genesis was aboveboard and in accordance with the law.

Kumaar Aamaan, who claimed that he became party president in March 2016, said he and the party had always supported BN and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak. 

On March 31, Gobi Krishnan announced that NewGen had been renamed and that Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor would be the president of the new party, while his deputy would be Khairuddin Abu Hassan.

Under Mohamad Ezam's helm, Parti Bebas Rasuah had attempted to join Pakatan Harapan. 

'We never met Ezam'

To a question, both Kumaar Aamaan and Mohd Zaini said they had no contact with Mohamad Ezam. 

"We don't know him. We have never met him," he said.

Kumaar Aamaan said that he had lodged reports with the police and the Registrar of Societies (ROS) against Gobi Krishnan over the purported hostile takeover.

Mohamad Ezam said as anti-corruption activists, he and his current party line-up would never ignore the proper processes. 

"We believe that that the allegations against us were done in bad faith and orchestrated by corrupt rulers who are against our battle against corruption," he said. 

He said that his party would abide by any ROS decision on the legitimacy of the party and that the struggle against corruption would continue, regardless of whether it would take in the shape of Parti Bebas Rasuah or not.