PKR received another jolt in the run-up to the Hulu Selangor parliamentary by-election on April 25 when the head of the Shah Alam branch of Angkatan Muda Keadilan (AMK), PKR's youth wing, Nor'isham Manap and his deputy Muhamad Ali Mukhtar, quit the party with immediate effect.

   

Besides Nor'isham and Muhamad Ali, another committee member of the branch, Mohd Nazri Mukhtar and four members of the Padang Jawa AMK branch also followed suit.

   

Nor'isham said the choice of former Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Zaid Ibrahim, as the candidate for the Hulu Selangor by-election clearly was a betrayal of the spirit and aspirations of the reformation struggle and justice that they strived for since 1999.

 

"We believe his selection was not based on the interests of the people and struggle but was to protect the interests of (Opposition Leader) Anwar (Ibrahim) who needed a former minister and a high-profile lawyer to come to his defence in Parliament over his alleged sodomy case.

   

"As such, Zaid was picked by Anwar to protect his interests and not that of the people. It makes no sense that an outsider, not a local person, can be an effective representative in Hulu Selangor," Nor'isham said at a news conference that was also attended by former AMK chief, Ezam Mohd Nor and Shah Alam division Umno Youth chief, Azahari Shaari, here today.

   

Nor'isham said they represented many youth in AMK who were not satisfied and were frustrated by the decision and Anwar's attitude, and that many others had not been bold enough to quit the party, and he urged them to do so.

- Bernama

S'gor PKR Youth unfazed by chiefs' quitting