Anwar admits PKR the weak link in Pakatan
Anwar speaking about PKR's weaknesses at the press conference. - Jack Ooi
PERMATANG PASIR, Aug 24 – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been forced to concede that his party is the “weakest link” in the fledgling Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact, noting that PKR has caused many headaches following several defections of its representatives, the latest being the walk-out staged by the Lunas assemblyman yesterday.
Mohd Radzhi Salleh quit the party, citing lost of confidence towards the party’s central leadership as the reason, though Anwar and other fellow PKR leaders have denied claims of an internal crisis, alleging that the former’s inefficiency and corrupt practices had made him liable to extortion by the Barisan Nasional (BN), which forced him to defect.
He is to become an “independent” supporting the administration of Prime Minister and BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak, which was also responsible for the power grab in Perak, a coup made possible by the defection of two PKR and one DAP state assemblymen.
In Penang and in Kedah, PKR leaders had also previously made headlines for the wrong reasons, when both former Deputy Chief Minister I and Penanti assemblyman, Mohd Fairus Khairuddin, and former Bukit Selambau assemblyman V. Arumugam, were pressured to quit for alleged corrupt practices and personal problems.
In Selangor, where the ongoing BN onslaught is unrelenting in what is described by PR leaders as an attempt to topple the PR government there, PKR leaders have again been implicated in rumours of defections.
“I concede that there is a flaw in our vetting system. We rushed to choose candidates to contest in the last general elections but I promise that this will be improved,” Anwar told a press conference here.
The PKR de facto leader further said that he and the party’s top leadership have been receiving numerous complaints about Radzhi, who is an executive councillor with the PAS-led Kedah government.
He has been accused of inefficiency by the people in his constituency. It is learnt that Radzhi, an executive councillor in charge of tourism in the state, was also under a Malaysian Anti Corruption Comission (MACC) probe for graft involving tourism projects in the state.
Later in a ceramah, Anwar said the party was not bothered by Radzhi’s resignation, saying that PR and PKR can do without a problematic leader like him.
“We can do without him, he is a nuisance in our struggle for change,” he said.
BN, in need of ammunition to rebound from its disastrous by-election campaign here after their candidate Rohaizat Othman was plagued by scandal involving his professional career, has been quick to capitalise on the issue.
Deputy Prime Minister and BN deputy chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin yesterday said Radzhi’s walk-out showed many PKR supporters and leaders no longer have trust in the party because they realised that the party’s struggles were only meant for one individual, which was Anwar.
He also hinted that more PKR representatives could quit the party in the future but the PR leadership say they are unperturbed by the deputy prime minister’s claims as they were only statements made to instill insecurity among their supporters.
source : themalaysianinsider.com
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