PKR'S CRISIS BOILS OVER, WAN AZIZAH KEEPS SILENT
Bernama - 1 hour 33 minutes ago
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KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 11 (Bernama) -- The crisis in Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) following Datuk Zaid Ibrahim calling PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and vice presidnet Mohamed Azmin Ali to step aside, still shows no signs of subsiding.
Party members are waiting for the next move from PKR president Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in resolving the crisis, which reached a boiling point when Zaid, the Federal Territory PKR chief, pulled out from contesting the deputy presidency of the party on Monday, claiming the election process lacked transparency.
He also quit as Federal Territory PKR chief and all other posts he held in the party.
Things then took a turn for the worse when another deputy president aspirant, vice president Mustafffa Kamil Ayub, the Perak PKR chief, gave the party a 48-hour ultimatum the next day to call off PKR''s national polls, which began on Oct 29 and will end on Nov 21.
However, PKR''s election committee chairman Dr Molly Cheah, in a press conference at the party''s headquarters in Petaling Jaya today, said the polls would go ahead despite there being numerous complaints on the conduct of the election.
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WAN AZIZAH-SILENT 2 KUALA LUMPUR
"The polls cannot be simply called off just because of complaints by some members of irregularities. Members must understand, to make a decision takes time, each complaint has to be evaluated individually," she said.
A political analyst was of the view that Wan Azizah was torn between loyalty to her husband (Anwar) and the party.
"By right, as the legitimate president of the party, she should state her stand so as not to been seen as being subservient to her husband.
"Without any statements from Wan Azizah, the party will be seen as depending on a puppet president, and if that is the case, perhaps Wan Azizah should hand over the post to Anwar rather than Anwar having to be the de facto leader," said Dr Sivamurugan Pandian to Bernama here today.
The political science lecturer at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) said:"The question now is whether Wan Azizah is willing to deny Anwar and Mohamed Azmin and give priority to the party?."
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WAN AZIZAH-SILENT 3 (LAST) KUALA LUMPUR
Zaid, a former Minister in the Prime Minister''s Department and a former Umno member, claimed he had made a mistake when offering himself for the Number Two post because he had thought PKR was a party that could bring about progressive politics, expand democracy and improve transparency.
Instead, he claimed, despite all the cheating going on in the polls, the leadership did not lift a finger to do anything about it.
At a press conference at his home on Tuesday, Zaid said Anwar and Mohamed Azmin should go, claiming they were the source of all the problems in the party. Mustaffa who was also present, issued his 48-hour ultimatum at it.
Sivamurugan also said keeping silent would also cause people to ask if Wan Azizah, who won the president''s post uncontested, concurred with the calls for Anwar and Mohamed Azmin to step aside.
Other questions that arise are whether the PKR''s polls will give the party a new lease of life to make it a truly effective Opposition party.
PKR''s polls are using the direct election method and so far polling has been completed in 87 of the party''s 218 divisions with Mohamed Azmin leading the race for the deputy president''s post with 6,467 votes while Zaid has 3,988 votes and Mustaffa Kamil 1,215 votes.
-- BERNAMA
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