THE recent defeat of several prominent figures in Parti Keadilan Rakyat's (PKR) internal elections should be seen as a wake-up call for leaders at both state and federal levels, said former PKR Information Coordination Secretary, Iswardy Morni.
He emphasised that PKR, unlike other parties, is rooted in grassroots participation, where the position of a leader is determined directly by members rather than through divisions or delegates.
“PKR is a party of members. It’s not based on whether someone is a prominent leader at the central level – that doesn’t guarantee a position at the branch level. Party members will observe all your work closely,” he said.
“If you fail to fulfil your responsibilities as expected, you will be removed in the next election and replaced by someone else, just like what happened this time. This is real democracy.
“This election result proves that the final say in leadership rests with the members. In fact, if we look at those who won against well-known and high-ranking individuals, many of them are not even recognised outside, but they are popular among the grassroots – and that’s why they could win,” he added.
Iswardy also addressed concerns about seemingly inconsistent results, such as cases where branch chiefs were defeated while their committee teammates secured victory. He dismissed such outcomes as anomalies, instead describing them as a reflection of PKR’s people-first and grassroots-driven principles.
“I know many are saying the results in certain branches are strange. These claims usually come from those who lost – if they had won, they wouldn’t think it’s strange. We must understand that voting was conducted online. Can we really be sure that everyone who claims to support us actually voted on polling day?” he said.
“These kinds of allegations cannot be used as evidence to dispute the results. Instead, those wanting to challenge the outcome must provide solid proof to support their claims,” he added. - April, 21, 2025
