PKR Youth leaders Mizan Adli Mohd Noor and Mohd Ramly Ahmad, who were stripped of their positions as the wing's permanent chairperson and deputy permanent chairperson amid factional infighting, have cautioned that the party could face deregistration.

As such, the duo urged the central leadership to thoroughly investigate their removal.

"We demand that the central political bureau immediately investigates this matter professionally and without prejudice, as it concerns its legal status and involves the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

"We do not want PKR to be declared illegal like Umno (in 1988)," Mizan Adli and Mohd Ramly said in a joint statement.

Yesterday, PKR Youth secretary Ahmad Syukri Razab informed the duo, in letters to them, that they would be stripped of their positions due to doubts in their election.

According to the letters sighted by Malaysiakini, manual counting showed that the duo had received more votes than the number of delegates present.

The issue of their age qualification was also raised.

Syukri, when contacted, confirmed to Malaysiakini that the letters are authentic.

Mizan and Ramly have disputed the reasoning for their removal.

They said the election committee had conducted the vote in a disorderly manner and also stressed that the position of permanent chairperson and deputy permanent chairperson were not limited to those aged 35 years and below.

"We will not hesitate to raise this issue in the mass media if the voice of the grassroots is not heard.

"We were elected by the grassroots and this decision should be left to them, not the rigid and narrow-minded leadership that has strayed from PKR's original ideology," they said.

This comes amid a tussle between PKR president Anwar Ibrahim's faction, which does not want party deputy president Azmin Ali to officiate the PKR Youth congress, and Azmin's faction, which is refusing to budge.

The permanent chairperson and deputy permanent chairperson do not have major roles in the party's daily operations but are critical figures during a party congress as they will chair the gathering.

PKR Youth chief Akmal Nasir said the decision to strip the two of their positions was decided in the last PKR Youth central leadership committee meeting.

He added that they were sacked because they were over the age of 35.

"I think we need to maintain the PKR Youth spirit by following the rules and the constitution which state that those in PKR Youth need to be below 35 years old," he said.

When it was pointed out to him that the two had said there were no age limits, he asked them to show him the proof.

"You show me where in the rules. So far the rules say any position in the PKR Youth must be held by those in PKR Youth.

"If you look at the party constitution, it states that PKR Youth must consist of those below 35 years old.

"It also states in the rules that the office bearers in PKR Youth must be from among its members.

"So what we are doing actually is to uphold the rules that have been set by the party," he said.