Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Kelantan chairperson Nik Mahmud Nik Hassan has denied that there is trouble brewing either within the branch or opposition coalition Barisan Alternatif (BA).

He was responding to a report in The Star today that some 100 supporters had demonstrated against the sudden removal of two party leaders outside the state government complex for an hour on Saturday.

The two are Tanah Merah parliamentary constituency supervisor Saufi Daud, 51, and Nenggiri state constituency supervisor Nik Hassan Nik Yah, 45 who lost their appointed positions last week.

A memorandum was also handed to officials, urging Mentri Besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat ( photo ) to intervene in the party's decision.

"What we did (not renewing the appointments) was based on complaints from Tanah Merah and Gua Musang officials. We were not happy with their performance and those are our grounds for removing them," Nik Mahmud told malaysiakini .

Asked to elaborate, he said he had started investigations by speaking to people at the grassroots after receiving information that the two were not fulfilling their duties. He also held discussions with local PAS leaders .

It was concluded that Saufi and Nik Hassan were not doing enough to sustain support for PKR especially when they were poised to contest in the two seats in the next general election, due by April 2009 but widely speculated to be called earlier.

"If they remain candidates for the next general election, PKR will fail to get support and risk losing again," Nik Mahmud said.

He explained that Nik Hassan, the state supervisor for Nenggiri since 2005, had failed to expand support for the party.

"He did not set up more PKR branches. He did not invite more people to join the party. He was happy using the existing PAS machinery without strengthening the PKR one. He should at least have worked harder so we could challenge Umno next time," he said.

Nik Mahmud also pointed out that written warnings had been issued but that Saufi and Nik Hassan failed to attend meetings that were organised.

He stressed that there is no troubles within BA over this because he had checked the decisions with PAS leaders.

"They've agreed that I made the right decision. They know this is not a personal move but something that must be done to strengthen the party in such situations. If some people don't perform well enough, we change them. We would do the same thing for other seats," he added.

"They only lost their supervisory positions. Saufi is still Tumpat division chief and Nik Hassan is still a member of the party."