A small group of PKR members held a demonstration outside the Election Commission’s (EC) headquarters in Putrajaya this morning demanding the resignation of both its chairperson and the deputy chairperson over allegations that they are Umno members.

NONEThe group of 13 grassroots members led by Subang Jaya City Councillor Michael Tamil unfurled a banner and chanted slogans for about five minutes at the gates of the Government Administrative Centre (Complex C), where several other government agencies are also headquartered.

“Democracy-loving Malaysians want the EC chairperson and deputy chairperson to resign,” the banner read while the group chanted slogans: “resign, bersihkan SPR (clean the EC)” and “reformasi.”

Commenting on the small turnout, Port Dickson assemblyperson M Ravi told a press conference that the rally was just a taste of things to come.

“We are not merely here as a small group but to serve a warning to them. If they remain stubborn, we will bring tens of thousands to gather here.

“We will prepare a memorandum and gather here en masse. When that happens, don’t blame us for causing a disturbance in Putrajaya,” he said.

NONEWhen asked why the group held the rally despite the fact that EC chief Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof and his deputy Wan Ahmad Wan Omar (right) had denied the allegations, former PKR Federal Territory deputy chief R Suresh Kumar cited the party’s secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s press statements as proof.

“To this day, the EC chief and his deputy are just making excuses. They had not denied that they were Umno members,” he said.

Saifuddin in his statement has insisted that Abdul Aziz was still an Umno member although he had not paid the annual fees. This is because he had not been expelled but merely prevented from attending annual general meetings as a result.

Meanwhile, the EC chief had said he did not sign up for an Umno membership but suggested that someone else might have done it on his behalf.

Wan Ahmad on the other hand had said that it was a case of mistaken identity and that he was never an Umno member, back-tracking from his earlier admission.

Meanwhile, the PKR protesters left the government complex peacefully after rallying for 15 minutes, at about 11am. There were no police officers present, however, security guards at the complex kept watch and told onlookers to move on to avoid blocking the traffic flow.