The PKR Puchong branch annual general meeting held last night was reported to have turned chaotic, leading to demands from grassroots leaders for an immediate repeat meeting.
The commotion, video recordings of which have since gone viral on social media, is believed to have stemmed from a dispute over the selection of branch delegates to the PKR National Congress, scheduled to take place in Melaka this June.
Following the incident, a member of the Puchong branch committee, Parithi Vaanan Ramasamy, submitted an official request to PKR Secretary-General Fuziah Salleh to annul the meeting’s decisions.
In a letter seen by the media, Parithi alleged that the meeting on April 19 was conducted in an irregular manner and violated the principles of party democracy.
"The meeting was adjourned hastily without the consent of the majority of members present.
"There are allegations that the meeting agenda had been pre-arranged in a planned manner, including the appointment of a permanent chairperson, proposer, and seconder with pre-prepared scripts.
“This situation shows that the meeting did not take place in the spirit of true democracy. Therefore, we request the party leadership to hold a new meeting,” he told Malaysiakini .
Malaysiakini has contacted Fuziah for comment.
However, PKR Puchong branch chief Zaihasri Jaafar denied allegations of any major irregularities in the meeting.
When contacted, Zaihasri described the incident as merely a “small commotion” that is normal within the party’s democratic process and stressed that the meeting ran smoothly overall.
“Nothing big. The meeting went smoothly and there is no issue,” he told Malaysiakini briefly.
This issue in the Puchong branch has drawn significant attention, given that the branch was previously linked to the phenomenon of ‘head without a body’ during the party elections last May — a term referring to votes that were not aligned between the top leadership positions and committee positions.