Saifuddin Nasution denies Hamzah’s PKR polls nullification claim

KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail today said that he had never attempted to nullify the result of the 2022 PKR elections as claimed by Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.

Saifuddin said that he had no issue with losing the bid to become deputy president and that the meeting with Hamzah previously was only to clarify the results of the party’s election results as requested by the Registrar of Societies (RoS), Free Malaysia Today reported.

“A failure to respond to the RoS show cause letter on this could have resulted in PKR being dissolved.

“There were several complaints made by PKR members to the RoS over the party’s elections. So RoS wrote to PKR and I, as its secretary-general, was tasked by the party’s leadership to respond to the show cause letter,” he was quoted as saying.

In July 2022, PKR was served a notice from the RoS to clarify the results of its party elections after the party received over 1,800 complaints of fraud in the voting process.

Hamzah, who is the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) secretary-general, said that Saifuddin had met him a few days after he was defeated by Rafizi Ramli with a sizeable majority in the party’s deputy president race.

Hamzah claimed he still possessed the letter which Saifuddin brought to the meeting seeking to nullify the PKR election results.

Separately, Saifuddin said he has not received any letter of demand from caretaker Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor concerning defamatory statements linking Sanusi to a theft of rare earth elements and the alleged misuse of federal funds for road maintenance projects.

“I can be contacted anytime. I do not avoid anyone. I am easily approachable and available even until 3am,” he was quoted as saying.

Sanusi had issued a legal letter to demand an apology within one week, failing which he will file a lawsuit over Saifuddin.

Saifuddin also urged Sanusi to reveal the identity of a Chinese national who had been detained in the Bukit Enggang Sik Forest Reserve in connection with the rare earth theft issue last January.