KUALA LUMPUR: PKR's poor performance in four state elections between 2020 and 2022 will be on the agenda at the party’s National Congress, which is expected to take place this June, says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

       The party's secretary-general said the series of defeats demanded modification to their strategies, narrative to the people, election machinery training and the use of data in line with current election challenges.

       "We have never practised the denial syndrome and will confront this issue head-on," he told reporters after officiating the Lembah Pantai PKR annual general meeting in Kerinchi here Sunday (March 27).

       In the Sabah election on Sept 26, 2020, PKR won only two state assembly seats. The party lost all the state seats it contested in the Melaka election last year (Nov 20) and Sarawak election (Dec 18), but managed to secure one state seat in the recent Johor election.

       Meanwhile, Saifuddin Nasution said he had yet to decide on contesting for any posts in the party’s election on April 8, adding that he was still discussing and getting opinions from the party’s leadership and friends on the matter.

       On Tian Chua's intention not to defend his vice-president post in the upcoming party's election, Saifuddin Nasution said he respected the leader's stand.

       "I believe he has his reasons for not contesting, but most importantly he (Tian Chua) insists that he will remain in the party - he wants to strengthen the party using his ability (without a position in the party)," he said.

       On Sunday, the media reported that Tian Chua had confirmed he would not defend his vice-presidency but would be defending the Batu division chief's post, adding that he wanted to strengthen grassroots support for the party to face the next general election. - Bernama