PKR No 2 hits out at top leadership over MB post

PKR deputy president Azmin Ali has hit out at the party leadership for "practising nepotism" by sidelining the views of Selangor PKR in deciding on who to nominate for the post of menteri besar.

At a much anticipated press conference, Azmin said party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail had submitted a letter to the Selangor palace nominating caretaker menteri besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim for the post without consensus from Selangor PKR.

"Unfortunately, within PKR (a meeting to seek consensus) did not take place until yesterday afternoon, after my colleague took the initiative to call (PKR Selangor) assemblypersons, members of parliament and division leaders to discuss the matter," he said.

Azmin said at the meeting of the elected representatives and division leaders, the Selangor PKR came to a consensus and nominated their candidate to the party president, even though she had gone one step ahead.

Asked if this meant that Wan Azizah had acted unilaterally, he said: "In a way, yes."

"The president's list and our list might consist of the same people, but (her list) did not get the endorsement or the consent of Selangor PKR," Azmin said, refusing the reveal if the Selangor PKR leadership council had nominated him for the post.

He said PKR "does not belong to any individual or family" but to the people, and thus any mistake must be called out and rectified.

"No leader is sacrosanct and free from judgment from other parties or the people," he said.

While not mentioning names, Azmin was likely referring to de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim who is the husband of the party president, and whose daughter Nurul Izzah is an elected vice-president.

‘PAS and DAP can suggest, but we should nominate’

To a question, he said that it is the right of DAP and PAS to endorse any PKR leader as MB but PKR itself should not be denied the "privilege" of nominating its own candidate via consensus.

Both PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng have both announced their parties endorsement of Khalid being retained as Selangor MB.

DAP is believed to have sent a letter to the Selangor Sultan to express its support for Khalid while Hadi has sent a similar letter to Selangor PAS with instructions that it be passed on to the palace.

Azmin said he was not speaking out because he wanted to be the MB, and that if this was his goal, he could have achieved it in 2008.

"If I was so hard up for the post, I would have got it in 2008 in the lead-up to the Permatang Pauh by-election, when Anwar himself asked me to replace Khalid as the party was unhappy with his performance as MB...

"But I strongly went against the instruction because I did not want to disrupt the party's stability, and instead suggested that Anwar become Selangor economic adviser to help smoothen Selangor's administration," he said.

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