PKR POLLS | Membership lists for all PKR divisions have been finalised as the objection period has ended.

Party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution said this today when asked to respond to Sarawak PKR’s questions over irregularities found in their membership list especially in the Julau division.

He explained that party divisions were previously tasked with filtering their membership lists and raising objections if they encountered any “suspicious names”.

“The onus is on the divisions to get back to the party headquarters (on this) and lodge a report.

“When the party finalises the list, this also means that the period for divisions to object has also ended.

“At the time of our press conference now, the objection period has already ended,” he told a press conference in Putrajaya.

Among the irregularities Sarawak PKR had found were that more than 1,000 of its new members had denied that they had ever agreed or applied to join PKR.

Also, more than 1,000 members did not possess unique identification numbers while several identification numbers had appeared more than once on the membership list.

Today, Saifuddin stated that the party’s political bureau was aware of Sarawak PKR’s grievances but stopped short of saying any action would be taken.

“This issue was discussed during the political bureau meeting last week,” he said.

Analyse stark rise within context

As for Julau’s recent stark 2,147 percent spike in membership which had also raised concerns, Saifuddin said he saw no cause for alarm and urged the jump be understood within a wider context.

“The entire party saw a jump of almost 300,000 members in the period of a month-and-a-half (after May 9).

“[...] If we understand this in context, the sharp spikes here and there are something we should look at as a whole,” he said.

Saifuddin previously announced that PKR’s membership had swelled to more than 800,000 just before the party polls.