Now, after PKR division elections, there has been many complaints about the validity of the elections when MPs/ADUNs and prominent leaders find themselves being defeated, and ODDLY members of their 'team' gets elected in some cases.
Complaints have been lodged, and the ultimate decision lies with party, i.e. the central leadership(the incumbent leaders) - and if members are unhappy with that decision - they have NO RECOURSE to the Courts because the law says so.
But, the current central leadership before any party elections are still made up of the INCUMBENT - and they have the power to rule in favour of the incumbent - against those who may be intending to mount a challenge against the incumbent/current leadership.
Interestingly, those who are 'victims' are supporters of Rafizi, who in the last PKR Elections managed to beat what some believed was Anwar's candidate for the No.2 position in PKR. If Rafizi challenged Anwar for Presidency - would he win? REMEMBER Anwar remaining Prime Minister depends only on the majority support of MPs - and even, if not PKR President, he can still be PM, noting Ismail Sabri was not the President of UMNO when he became PM No. 9??
Section 18C Societies Act 1966 Decision of political party to be final and conclusive
The decision of a political party or any person authorized by it or by its constitution or rules or regulations made under the constitution on the interpretation of its constitution, rules or regulations or on any matter relating to the affairs of the party shall be final and conclusive and such decision shall not be challenged, appealed against, reviewed, quashed or called in question in any court on any ground, and no court shall have jurisdiction to entertain or determine any suit, application, question or proceedings on any ground regarding the validity of such decision.
Section 18C, 18B and 18A, collectively in PART IA PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO POLITICAL PARTIES ONLY, came into being by way of amendment - after the Courts, on the application of some UMNO members declared UMNO illegal in 1987, and de-registered it. A new UMNO, UMNO Baru was speedily formed and registered. Then, the Societies Act was amended REMOVING the RIGHT of a member of a political party contesting a decision of the party to Court.
The Federal Constitution provides for the right of the individual person(citizens) to form an association, it is thus a personal right - and would not denying a member of the party the right to take matters to court when his/her right is violated a violation of one's freedom of association?
When a member is 'victimized' or aggrieved by the decision of an incumbent leadership - should not, the said member, after exercising all internal party mechanisms, have a right to refer the matter to court for an APPEAL or a JUDICIAL REVIEW?
Article 10(1)(c) of Federal Constitution - Freedom of speech, assembly and association
... (c) all citizens have the right to form associations.
This denial of political party members recourse to COURT only applies to ONE type of Society/Association, the Political Party > hence, it is UNJUST and DISCRIMINATORY.. and the whole of PART IA, especially Section 18C must be REPEALED.
A worker terminated by an Employer can take the matter to Court claiming 'wrongful dismissal' and asking for a REINSTATEMENT - to become a worker in the company again.
So, the denial of this RIGHT to members of the POLITICAL Party is wrong.
A political party CAN ABUSE this power to get rid of potential challengers to leadership positions of the party - Was this not what happened in UMNO when some people who may have challenged for top leadership positions were suspended or expelled - Khairy. Hishamuddin, etc. Now you understand why they did not challenge their suspension/expulsion by the party(whose leadership are then in the hands of the incumbent)
Section 18C not only says 'decision shall not be challenged, appealed against, reviewed, quashed or called in question in any court on any ground' ... BUT it goes further to oust the Court's Jurisdiction, where it says, '...and no court shall have jurisdiction to entertain or determine any suit, application, question or proceedings on any ground regarding the validity of such decision...'
In PKR now, who becomes Division Leader has powers to decided on 'DELEGATES' who will have a right to vote for the TOP leadership in PKR. So, these Division elections are very important. Previously, ALL members of PKR had the right to vote in the TOP leaders of PKR - but that changed recently when that right was extinguished, and the right to vote was given to DELEGATES.
PKR's Constitution is ODD, as it gives GREAT POWER to the President of the Party, who after party elections, have the power to add on members to the Central Leadership Council - He can choose and appoint alone 2 Vice Presidents, Secretary, several Council Members, State heads of the Party, etc. It is ODD, because reasonably this power should be with the "ELECTED' members of the Leadership Council, and not with ONE person, the President - In short, there is a REAL possibility that the Leadership Council ends up with the President's men or women, who may end up the majority.
So, would Anwar Ibrahim's PKR entertain the complaints - and call for a re-election, most likely not...
As I mentioned earlier, I hope that this time the position for President will be CONTESTED - and we know how much support Anwar has within the party...But, after what happened in the Division elections, which will have direct bearing on WHO will be named DELEGATES who will have the right to vote in the President and Top leadership - will a Free and Fair party elections be possible.
In the case of UMNO, Zahid retained his Presidency by reason of a 'contested Resolution' by a motion tabled during a General Assemble, where normally Motions in any society are required to be tabled several days before the said General Meeting. When, it was contested, our HOME MINISTER gave an EXEMPTION ...
SO, REPEAL DRACONIAN SECTION 18C - to respect and restore one's freedom of association.
## ODDLY, when you visit PKR's Website - we do not find the Party's Constitution, and it makes no sense as even people who want to join PKR needs to peruse the Constitution first..
FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION includes the protection of an individual member's RIGHT, to be able to challenge BAD decisions by Party, which means usually incumbent leaders, and decisions that victimized member.
When PH came into government, one would have expected a REPEAL of Section 18C - that denied the aggrieved or victimized member, where the perpetrator is really the incumbent leadership, more so when it is actually actions to remove potential challenges to existing leaders, etc.. Now, even if a party or its leadership goes against the values/principles of the party or even the spirit of the Party's Constitution, a member has no choice to challenge it in Court. That is NOT RIGHT - and it is a violation of our FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION.
At present, freedom of association is also UNDERMINED by law. If a party passes a RESOLUTION at a General Meeting, it does not take effect immediately - NOT until the State(Registrar of Societies) approves. Someone once told me that a Trade Union passed a Resolution to increase its membership fees - but it could not do so because the Registrar of Trade Union said 'NO" - the State should never be allowed to have the final say, after members or the General Assembly decides on something.
The State should ACT only when any Society/Association/Trade Unions Violates the LAW - Their role in approving/disapproving Resolutions and decisions of societies and associations must end.
Now, event for an Alumni Association, the Registrar of Societies disallows the power to get donations - WHY? Why are some societies allowed to collect donations and others disallowed. An Alumni association cannot collect public donations to help out the school, victims of flood and victims of natural disaster is really unjustified. This happened in my school Alumni association, when we went for registration > is it also happening elsewhere?
If one is worried about PUBLIC DONATIONS - then enact needed laws, to prevent the use of donations collected other than for the purpose it was collected...but let societies/associations/Trade Unions to right to collect public donations be it for the work of such groups, or for some other specific purposes...
OUR Societies Act need to be reviewed, and draconian provisions need to be deleted...
Recent PKR divisional election results have been unfavourable for Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli's camp, potentially impacting the upcoming central leadership polls.
Changes to the party's electoral system, particularly the delegate system, make these divisional results crucial for national-level leadership votes.
Allegations of electoral irregularities, especially with the electronic voting system, have surfaced, prompting a PKR Central Leadership Council meeting to address concerns.
The recent PKR divisional election has delivered a blow to deputy president Rafizi Ramli’s camp, with several of his key allies losing out - signalling a tough battle ahead in the party’s central leadership polls next month.
The results carry more than symbolic weight. Due to changes in the party’s electoral system, the outcomes of these divisional contests will directly shape the national-level leadership vote.
PKR regularly adjusts its internal election rules. This time, it has reinstated the delegate system, where some 30,000 delegates from 222 divisions nationwide will vote to elect 20 central leadership council members and six top posts: president, deputy president, and four vice-presidents.
What complicates matters further is how these delegates are chosen.

Malaysiakini understands that the delegates to the national congress will include the permanent chairperson, deputy permanent chairperson and all central leadership council members.
It will also include representatives from each division: 46 committee delegates, 40 ordinary delegates, and several additional delegates.
The 46 committee delegates are drawn from the main body and two wings of each division - the youth wing, and women’s wing.
Ordinary and additional delegates are nominated by divisional chairperson candidates, in proportion to the votes they receive. - Malaysiakini, 23/4/2025