PKR MP for Telok Kemang, Kamarul Bahrin Abas, described the crisis in the party following the departure of three MPs as "necessary turbulence" that a still-young organisation must go through to attain to stability and strength.

NONE The unanimous choice of 11 other PKR MPs to pronounce a pledge of allegiance to the party following Bagan Serai MP Mohsein Fadzli Samsuri's same-day announcement of quitting it, Kamarul said he welcomed the turbulence as a necessary passing phase.

He cited the Chinese character for crisis.

"It's the same as for opportunity. The meaning is that where there is crisis, there is also opportunity; where there is danger there is also the chance for renewal," he said.

When rumours of resignations by PKR MPs intensified recently, causing doubt and tension among its elected representatives, the party's loyalists decided to band together to pledge their loyalty to the struggle for political reform in the country, the reason why they joined PKR in the first place.

NONE The stay-true MPs unanimously chose as spokesman Kamarul ( right ), secretary general of the party in 2004-07, for reason of the man's steadiness in the face of vicissitudes and his detachment from intraparty strife.

Earlier this week, Kamarul, accompanied by 11 members of the PKR parliamentary cohort, reduced in number to 28 after three departures, read out to the assembled press a statement of loyalty to the party.

It went a long way in steadying the frayed nerves of party faithful and of its legions of supporters who see Sodomy II as heightened victimization of Anwar Ibrahim and who view abandonment of the party in this hour of its need as betrayal of an especially sordid kind.

Listening can reap profits

Kamarul's standing in the party partly stems from his steady emotional keel: he has the ability to convey criticism without hard feelings, indignation without menace.

That's why he was chosen as interlocutor between some apparently disgruntled MPs and party supremo Anwar Ibrahim.

He was asked by the stay-put MPs to convey to Anwar that they needed to be listened to on their terms, however parochial and trifling those may be.

"Everyone has his story," said Kamarul. "They need to be listened to and action should be taken where it is imperative that it be taken. Otherwise people will feel out of sorts and things would fester and reach a stage where it will result in behavior that is destructive."

Kamarul said he was accessible to PKR MPs Wee Choo Kheong and Zulkifli Nordin, both of whom were absent from the ‘pledge of loyalty' gathering, stirring speculation that they, too, would depart the party soon.

"They speak to me often in Parliament and outside. I do not take the view that they have changed their views on the need for political reform in this country.

NONE "It's just that Wee finds it difficult to fit into the hierarchy of the party and Zulkifli  ( left )is like a square peg in a round hole," he said.

"This party of ours will attract all types of people. Some will fall away but many would stay if the party continues to stay true to its goal of political reform," he added.

Kamarul said he saw a positive side to the current crisis, caused by the departures of Zahrain Mohd. Hashim (MP for Bayan Baru) Tan Tee Beng (Nibong Tebal) and Mohsein Samsuri (Bagan Serai).

"There is this opportunity to clear up and clean out so that MPs and state assemblypersons can feel connected. That feeling is vital for commitment to endure," he opined.