PKR believes that UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Philip Alston's findings that Malaysia was "severely underreporting" its poverty numbers merit further discussion.

The PKR central leadership council said this after its monthly meeting today, which was chaired by party president Anwar Ibrahim.

"PKR discussed Alston's press statement about poverty in Malaysia, including the poverty line.

"PKR is of the position that the UN special rapporteur's report should generate wider dialogue and discussions to aid Pakatan Harapan in drafting economic programmes that are positive, particularly for the lower-income group," it said in a statement today.

Yesterday, Alston (photo) said Malaysia's poverty line of RM980 per household, which translated to a poverty rate of 0.4 percent, was unrealistically low.

"The use of a very low and highly unrealistic poverty line obscures the more troubling reality that millions of families scrape by on very low incomes and there is significant hardship in urban as well as rural areas," he said.

Alston added that the poverty rate in Malaysia was closer to 15 percent.

Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali, who is the PKR deputy president, defended the government's statistics.

"While the government appreciates the effort by the special rapporteur in raising awareness on issues of poverty, certain comments are baseless and uncalled for," he had said.

In its statement, the PKR central leadership council said it also discussed a convention to be held in every state beginning October in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the Reformasi movement.

This is ahead of its national congress in December.

The party also reported that its membership had increased by 9,509 members between July 16 and Aug 15, and that it has 220 divisions nationwide, covering almost all 222 parliamentary constituencies.

The council also urged its members to participate in events for Merdeka and Malaysia Day.