PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim punctured the hopes of many when he failed to announce the long-awaited Sabah PKR state line-up, as expected, today.

His Kota Kinabalu trip for a state convention was an anti-climax for some members of the Sabah chapter.

pakatan convention 191209 anwar talk Anwar only made partial reference to the state line-up when he was approached by the media after the state convention.

He acknowledged that the party headquarters did not accept Sabah strongman Jeffrey Kitingan's resignation as vice-president.

Kota Kinabalu division chief Christina Liew's resignation from the national political bureau, along with Jeffrey's, was also not accepted.

"Jeffrey will play a bigger role in Sabah and Sarawak in helping the party to strategise," said Anwar ambiguously before refusing to be drawn into further questions on Jeffrey.

"He will be national vice-president with overall responsibility for Sabah and Sarawak."

Anwar explained that he has nothing against PKR members in Sabah leaving and forming their own party.

"They are free to leave if they want to do so," he stressed without referring to anyone in particular. The media had asked him about moves among certain Sabah PKR members to form the proposed Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS).

Anwar also added that Libaran division chief Ahmad Thamrin Jaini would remain the appointed state chief until March when the post would be elected.

He did not say whether Jeffrey had agreed to accept Thamrin's appointment, which the former alleged "did not follow democratic principles."

The PKR chief did not touch on the rest of the Sabah state line-up which remains virtually unchanged from the one appointed by former state chief Azmin Ali, who was ousted in a party rebellion against him.

One notable vacancy is that of the sole deputy state chief, a new appointment under the revised constitution. Liew had been tipped to fill the vacancy.

Thamrin, the former state secretary, appointed Kudat division chief Mursalim Tanjul as his replacement when he moved up. It is not known whether this has been accepted by the party headquarters.

Wan Azizah approved new line-up

Richard Jayasuriya, political secretary to Thamrin, claims that party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has in fact approved a proposed "new" line-up for Sabah.

He added that the official letter is with his boss. However, he did not say when the contents will be made public. Anwar did not mention his wife's letter during his press conference.

Earlier, there have been media reports citing sources in the party headquarters that the Thamrin list had been rejected by Wan Azizah after the national political bureau expressed their reservations.

It is not known whether the line-up referred to by Jayasuriya is the same one that was earlier rejected. He's not telling.

Anwar made no reference earlier to the Sabah state line-up in his closing remarks for the convention.

The PKR chief had turned up shortly after noon in Kota Kinabalu but did not go straight to the state convention.

He had also made a 2pm appointment at the Kinabalu Club in Lido with a group of professionals for a dialogue on "good governance".

'New line up must be announced'

Jeffrey could not be contacted after Anwar met the press following the state convention. A division chief aligned with him said his mentor was already on his way to Keningau and would not be at a dinner for Anwar tonight.

"Wait for the next 12 hours," said the division chief who had earlier confidently said the new state line-up would be announced.

"The new state line-up must be announced as agreed by Anwar. We don’t care who announces it. It can be Anwar himself, Thamrin or Jeffrey. But the list must be as per what we agreed."

The division chief stressed that "earlier Malaysiakini reports on the new Sabah PKR state line-up was correct and was agreed to by Anwar himself."

"We don't know how you got the list but it is correct," reiterated the division chief. "Anwar should have announced it tonight.”

Clutching at straws, the division leader added: "We still have one more function tonight (the dinner). Maybe he will announce the line-up then."

Anwar: Problems resolved

Speaking at a press conference later, Anwar said that Sabah PKR's internal problems have been resolved and the members have expressed support for the state's party line-up.

According to Bernama , he said the party leadership had received a lot of feedback from members who voiced their concerns and had explained the decision-making process to them.

He was glad that the members now supported the party line-up in the state and at the same time he wanted to make sure that the national leadership, which included Jeffrey, Liew and Ansari Abdullah, was given a chance to perform in Sabah and Sarawak.

The Bernama report stated that when Kitingan was asked on the issue, he echoed that all matters had been resolved.

In his speech earlier, Anwar said that even though the appointment of Thamrin had caused controversy, this was a mandate given to the latter, just like what the central leadership had done for divisions in Sarawak and the peninsula.

He said the rationale was to push the second-liners up while the veteran leaders would be around to guide them, as was being done in other states like Kelantan, Terengganu and Johor.