00:00An activist and a political analyst have praised PKR for its attempts to reform its electoral
00:07processes but expressed concerns about the reasons for these changes and their potential
00:12long-term impact on the party.
00:15At a special congress on December 15th, PKR amended its constitution to increase the number
00:20of voting delegates for its Central Leadership Council and introduced gender and ethnic quotas
00:25for these electors.
00:27Paris' Executive Director Roy Coquin supported the party's efforts to try a new electoral
00:32system but questioned the justification provided by party secretary-general Fouzia Saleh, who
00:38suggested that grassroots members lacked sufficient knowledge about candidates and often voted
00:43on block.
00:44Roy said the assumption was a sign of mistrust in the party members' discernment and a
00:48distrust of the democratic process.
00:51He also said increasing the number of delegates seemed a compromise to offset the decreased
00:55number of votes needed for a leader to be elected and expressed doubts about effectively
01:00enforcing the new diversity requirements due to varying branch demographics.
01:05Meanwhile, political analyst Bridget Welsh commended the system's potential to enhance
01:10diversity and reduce electoral manipulation but warned that the changes could centralize
01:15power and disadvantage new leadership candidates.
01:18She urged the party to introduce other electoral initiatives to level the playing field and
01:23pave the way for new talent.
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