PKR is not the weakest link in Pakatan Rakyat, in fact they are the strongest, said the Deputy President, Azmin Ali at a dinner, attended by over 150 PKR members in Kota Kinabalu last night.

Citing the continuous attack by the mainstream media in the recent month, Azmin said that there could be only one reason for it, PKR is becoming stronger.

"Look at RTM or TV3 everyday, their headlines will be on PKR or Anwar," said the Gombak parliamentarian, adding that Malaysiakini is an exceptional as their reports are fair.

Azmin Ali dinner Azmin ( right ) also said the Sabah PKR has improved by leaps and bounds from where it was in the past few years into a formidable force and applauded the Sabah version of Buku Jingga, which lists 19 points of Sabah centric issues.

The dinner, organised by the Kota Kinabalu, Penampang and Papar branch, saw the presence of Penang Deputy Chief Minister 1, Dr Mansor Othman, Penang speaker, Halim Husin, Selangor deputy speaker, Haniza Talha and, other prominent PKR state assemblypersons and parliamentarians.

  'Winning team' for motivation

Azmin also unveiled a 13- member team comprising state assemblypersons and parliamentarian from the peninsula dubbed the "Wining Team" to share their success stories and their experience to help Sabah PKR leaders strengthen their presence in their state.

According to Azmin, the members of this team, selected by the party's central election committee, will be visiting 16 parliamentary constituencies across Sabah for the next three days.

"Because in the past, I travelled just with my small committee to conduct training sessions and to give input about the machinery but now we have to expand the base, not only just with training but with knowledge about other issues.

"Because we have to focus on the policy matters, issues and not on gutter politics. We need to go down and explain how we run the states and how we manage the economy, it is very important."

Azmin also said that this team will also be sharing their experiences with leaders from other states not under the Pakatan for the moment.

Seat negotiations on track

Met after the event, the PKR deputy president said that seat negotiations have reached the next phase with the Pakatan leadership taking over to decide on the final list of candidates.

He also confirmed that the  battle in Sabah this time around will be  straight fights between Pakatan and Barisan Nasional candidates and not likely to see a repeat of the 3 -cornered and 4- cornered ones of the 2008 12 general election.

On SAPP's position in seat negotiations, Azmin said that he had held a series of meetings with the party's top leadership previously on the issue.

"I'm adopting an open door position where SAPP concerned and I will meet SAPP leaders in the next few days here in Kota Kinabalu."

Azmin said that he believes that both the DAP and SAPP leadership have the wisdom to resolve this issue for the sake of Pakatan,for  Sabahans to form a formidable force to face Umno/ BN.

Thamrin Jaini - Azmin Ali dinner Sabah PKR chief, Thamrin Jaini ( left )said in his speech that the days of infighting in Sabah are over and the rate of people joining the party in Sabah indicates a bright future for PKR.

He credits the growing support for the party to the practice of collective leadership,unlike the dictatorship seen in Umno/BN.

The feisty chief also announced that Sabah PKR is ready to face the polls anytime.