GEORGE TOWN: PKR will not implode because of a rift between its president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his deputy Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, the party’s secretary-general said yesterday.
The party has undergone a lot in the past 20 years and it has always rebounded from any internal or external crises, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (pix) said after attending the Islam-Confucianism civilisation dialogue session yesterday.
Saifuddin, who is also the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs minister, said the party would proceed with its annual congress in Malacca on Dec 5 with over 2,000 delegates from 222 divisions in attendance.
He was commenting on Azmin’s plan with 19 other PKR members to break away from the congress and hold a separate one in defiance.
The tension heightened when party central leadership council sacked central committee member Zakaria Abdul Hamid last week based on a recommendation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for alleged involvement in corrupt practices.
PKR Senator Yusmadi Yusoff echoed Saifuddin’s views, saying internal squabbles are common in political parties.
He attributed the differences in the party to its diverse membership with leaders from Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim), socialists from the former Parti Rakyat Malaysia, former Barisan Nasional members, civil society champions and legal experts in its mix.
Being in the government has put the party in the public eye, he said. “More people are watching us now ... from investors and political scientists to the public,” Yusmadi told theSun.
PKR Advisory Council chairman Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said there would only be one official national congress for the party.
“To us, the party is organising one (national) congress only, that is the official congress,” she told the press at a mass circumcision programme for the Pandan parliamentary constituency yesterday.
