PKR polls panel to decide whether Rafizi can contest – Wan Azizah

KUALA LUMPUR: The PKR election committee is to determine whether former Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli, who has two convictions, can contest in the party elections.

PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is the Deputy Prime Minister, responded thus to a question from reporters at the Parliament lobby.

She was asked about a frontpage report in The Sun daily yesterday that party regulations did not allow a person who had been convicted to contest in party elections.

The newspaper, quoting a source, had reported that PKR faced the possibility of being deregistered if it allowed Rafizi to contest. Rafizi is contesting the post of deputy president against incumbent Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, the Economic Affairs Minister.

It reported that the source said Rafizi had two convictions, that in 2016 he was sentenced to 18 months in jail by the Sessions Court for unauthorised possession of the 1MDB audit report and exposing it to the media, and early this year to 30 months in jail for exposing bank accounts related to the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) and its chairman Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail.

The newspaper had quoted the source as saying that Rafizi claimed to have been given special permission by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) to contest in the polls.