New Gombak PKR Youth vice-chief Khairul Anwar Rosnan said the concerns raised by many members over a lack of transparency by the party’s election committee were justified.

“This is because the committee didn’t allow independent facilitators or representatives of the candidates to monitor and ensure the auditing process was transparent,” he said in a statement last night.

Khairul also claimed that the silence on the part of many party leaders “leads to the belief that certain elements were in play”.

He noted that the election committee had received 1,799 complaints over data discrepancies during the voting.

“The leadership must remember that every party member has the right to know the truth.

“Why was it that only physical votes were audited and not online votes?” he asked, adding that the election committee must have a strong explanation for this.

He suggested that the committee allow digital forensic audit experts from each candidate’s team to observe the ballot count.

Previously, PKR’s incoming deputy president, Rafizi Ramli, had urged the party to ignore the “noise” made by those who lost in the elections.

He said it was unfortunate that those who lost could not accept their defeat and kept on pressuring party president Anwar Ibrahim to call for a re-election or forensic audit.

He said they should instead work towards regaining the public’s trust in the party.

Rafizi, the former Pandan MP, also said those who lost in the elections wanted to create the perception that his own victory was due to manipulation.

Yesterday, PKR’s central leadership council declared that the results of the elections had been “finalised” followng an independent forensic audit.