Incumbent PKR deputy president Azmin Ali today cited a host of independence icons that have moulded his political thought, to kickstart his campaign to retain his seat.
 
Azmin's campaign is themed " Keadilan Raya ", which can be loosely intepreted as a "A greater Keadilan", and was launched tonight in Petaling Jaya.
 
Images of independence icons such as Burhanuddin Helmy, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Gandhi and Soekarno are featured on posters used to promote the launch.
 
Azmin's speech stressed on the need for leaders to be in touch with grassroots and that PKR is not a "Malay-based" party, but a party for all Malaysians.
 
"As deputy president, I have gone to Ba'Kelalan in Sarawak, across the Crocker Range in Sabah. I have met the Iban in the longhouses in Saratok, the Kadazans in Beluran. 
 
"I have entered estates and new villages to understand the feelings of the Malay, Indians and the Chinese. Keadilan is a party for all Malaysians," he said, while quoting Martin Luther King Jr in saying that people should not "be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Vision

 
Azmin also quoted verses from the Quran, Chinese philosophers and from the Hindu text Mahabarata in illustrating the price and importance of upholding justice.
 
"A political party needs to have an ideology. Without ideology, the party will continue to be uncertain with times and will sink in Machiavellian politics, doing anything to achieve victory - the end justifies the means.
 
"What I mean by an ideology is a comprehensive vision," Azmin said in his speech.
 
He compared the term " Keadilan Raya " with terms such as " Melayu Raya ", " Indonesia Raya " and " Asia Raya ", coined by regional political icons such as Ibrahim Yaacob, Burhanuddin, Gandhi, Okakura Tenshin, Rabindranath Tagore and Soekarno in the past.
 
"The imagined community by independence icons in Asia is a fair and just society. Keadilan Raya is built on that ambition. Making sure every Malaysian enjoys the propesrity of this country.

"As Abraham Lincoln once said: 'With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds',” he said.

No need for third force

Azmin also said that there is no need for a "third force" in the party.
 
"Why do we need a third force? What we need is just one force. Only one! That is the force of Keadilan," he exclaimed.
 
"We have to avoid factionalism or alliances that will cause the party to break up. For me, all the members are my team under the stewardship of Anwar Ibrahim," he said.
 
"Vote for the leader who is stern, tested, able and loyal," he added in front of a packed crowd. 
 
Azmin faces a challenge from the party's incumbent secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution and current Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim for the deputy presidency.