PKR must ditch cartel-linked reps, says analyst
Universiti Malaya’s Awang Azman Pawi foresees increase of support for rogue group inside PKR, if the party fields members from that group in Melaka election.
PETALING JAYA: A political analyst has warned of a likely increase of support for a rogue group in Melaka PKR if the party nominates anyone linked to it as a candidate in the upcoming state election.
Speaking to FMT, Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said PKR would be putting its reputation at stake if it failed to prove that it had candidates more qualified than those linked to what the press has come to refer to as a “cartel” of former state party leaders.
He said PKR’s stability would continue to be under threat if it didn’t take action against the group to prevent an increase of support for it and to ensure the party was not exposed to ridicule.
“It has to conduct a spring cleaning to prove it is capable of coming out stronger and more united without the cartel in the party and that it has candidates who are more qualified,” he added.
He said there was no denying that there was such a cartel in Melaka PKR and that its influence was strong enough to give it the courage to go against the party’s central leadership.
He cited the 2019 failure of a motion to nominate Melaka PKR chairman Halim Bachik as a senator, blaming it on the absence of Ginie Lim (PKR-Machap Jaya) and Muhammad Jailani Khamis (PKR-Rembia) from the state assembly.
Lim is still in PKR, but Jailani was booted from the party in March 2020 after choosing to back the Barisan Nasional-led state government. He has since joined Umno.
Awang Azman said PKR president Anwar Ibrahim would look weak and too liberal if he allowed the cartel-linked members to be fielded in the state polls.
Another analyst, Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid of Universiti Sains Malaysia, told FMT he believed Anwar would try to be inclusive in choosing PKR’s candidates.
He said Anwar’s reconciliatory style would expose the opposition leader to more betrayals in the future. Nonetheless, he added, it would be better for Anwar to refrain from purging cartel-linked party members.
He said Anwar’s main consideration should be the potential candidate’s integrity, honesty, and ability to stay aligned to the principles of good governance.
“Anwar will prove his worth as a national leader if he is prepared to bury differences in searching for national unity,” he said. “It is at the party level that he must first prove this.
“A party-level purging will do no good to his image. As a potential prime minister, he needs to prove his mettle as a leader willing to and capable of uniting his followers, not dividing them.”
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Melaka goes to the polls on Nov 20 with early voting starting on Nov 16, and nomination day set for Nov 8.