Electoral reform watchdog Tindak Malaysia has called on defeated Bagan Datuk candidate Shamsul Iskandar Akin to clarify claims that he was instructed not to pursue a recount in the 2022 general elections for political expediency.

In a recent podcast, Shamsul, now an aide to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, claimed that he did not challenge the results of the Bagan Datuk contest because of the “bigger picture”, despite Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s wafer-thin majority of 348 votes.