ANWAR Ibrahim has admitted to weaknesses in PKR’s voting system, and vowed an overhaul in his first speech as party president today.

He said he had observed the party polls silently, but felt the need to step in when controversy erupted in Sarawak’s Julau division, which was hit by allegations of hacking.

He said he had to intervene by telling the PKR central election committee (JPP) to accept the Julau results and not call for fresh polls, to prevent the party from being torn apart further.

“Tuesday was the first time I intervened. I suggested that there was no need for a re-election.

“Just verify the (results), even though I was not happy because there were leaks… The voting had already taken place, and if the results were late… I wanted to save the party (from falling apart) and this congress, so that it could be held according to schedule,” he told the PKR national congress in Shah Alam.

Anwar said he had spoken to deputy president candidate Rafizi Ramli about the matter, and appreciated the latter’s understanding.

He added that he does not want anyone to think that the outcome of the race for the deputy presidency was determined solely by the Julau results.

Julau made the headlines for having more than 12,000 new members overnight. On the division’s polling day, Rafizi said the tablets used in the e-voting process had been hacked.

He initially called for a revote, and expressed confidence that he would emerge victorious over Mohamed Azmin Ali in the division. However he later conceded defeat to Azmin, saying the party’s struggles are more important than his own battle.

Anwar, who is also Port Dickson MP, said he was disheartened by the way the six-week PKR polls were conducted.

“I am not happy with the party elections and the system. I told them (party members) to stop pointing fingers.

“We admit that the system is weak. There were so many discrepancies. It was a huge mistake to use the tablets.”

The former deputy prime minister said there were also biased JPP members.

“We chose them, but they misused their powers.” – November 18, 2018.