SHAH ALAM: The PKR GE15 convention kicked off on Saturday (Aug 27) seeing an overwhelming attendance by party members.

The hall at the Youth and Cultural Complex here was filled to capacity with attendees from all over the country.

They were all there to hear what their leaders had to say about PKR's future direction.

PKR faced a major hurdle in the past two years when some of its pioneer leaders defected during the Sheraton Move political coup.

The incident happened just 22 months after PKR led the Opposition bloc in a historic defeat of Barisan Nasional in the 14th General Election.

Convention director Manivannan Gowin had said in an interview that the gathering would be a starting point for PKR to consolidate, unite and move on as a single force.

Both party president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his newly minted deputy Rafizi Ramli had been given 45 minutes each to deliver their respective speeches and messages to the attendees.

Both the speeches are scheduled to be delivered after 3.30pm.

It will soon be known if the attendees - mostly PKR grassroots members - perceive Rafizi as the party's saviour by the response he gets during his speech.

In his welcoming speech Manivannan reminded everyone that PKR has a history of rising up above all challenges.

"We have gone through five general elections. In the 10th General Election we won five Parliamentary seats, and in the 11th General Election we won only one seat," reminded Manivannan.

However, he added PKR had won 31, 30 and 47 seats in the 12th, 13th and 14th general elections respectively, but the jubilation was short lived due to betrayal by their very own people.

Manivannan said the party's grassroots felt the 'pain' and the betrayal the most and suffered a painful deep scar.

However, reassured Manivannan, as long as the people's aspirations were not met - PKR would blaze ahead.