Parti Amanah Negara urging Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali not to adopt ‘escapism politics’ is not a wise move, said PKR national deputy chief Dr Afif Bahardin.

Afif said this was not in line with the ‘grand strategy and effort’ to realign all opposition forces to go forward and face a corrupt and cruel regime headed by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

He said the reality was the people had placed great hope on the opposition movement to bring changes and to ensure Najib falls so that total reforms in the system could be initiated.

“Why do we need to be in the current situation where we keep questioning if we should be with PAS or not? We should be thinking like one big team,” Afif told Malaysiakini .

Afif was commenting on the remarks by Amanah Negara deputy youth chief (politics) Shazni Munir Mohd Ithnin who said yesterday that Azmin must understand the reality of politics in Selangor and not adopt an ‘ escapism politics ’ as it would result in the people becoming suspicious of his political transparency.

Shazni also said ‘politics requires honesty in friendship and co-operation’.

He added that Azmin, who is PKR deputy chief, would not have said there is no Pakatan Harapan in Selangor if he understood the meaning of honesty in friendship and co-operation.

Grand theme

Afif said inclusiveness was also the approach taken by many party leaders and had been emphasised by PKR defacto leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is currently serving a five-year jail sentence for a sodomy conviction.

“We need to understand that the majority of the people do not care for our internal differences so it is best now to gather all the forces - whoever it is - who are committed to bring reform and changes into our movement,” said Afif, who is also the Penang state executive councillor.

“We should take a leaf from Aung San Suu Kyi’s victory in Myanmar after decades of oppression - where she leads a movement to fight the junta as this can only happen when the people are together with us in a struggle that is clear in purpose against Najib’s Umno and BN,” he added.

“We don’t need to quarrel but instead welcome and make the inclusiveness of the opposition movement our grand theme,” said the Seberang Jaya assemblyman.

Afif said PKR’s Youth wing welcomed the meeting between Amanah’s top leader with Azmin, adding that it was a good effort to continue engagement between all parties.

He said Amanah must understand PKR’s inclusive approach towards all parties, including DAP, PAS, PSM and those in Sabah and Sarawak.

“We would even welcome leaders from BN and Umno who wish to subscribe to our reformasi agenda,” he said.

“At this current juncture, a political realignment is happening within the country in an effort to save Malaysia from continuing to be mired in a deteriorating political and economic crisis,” he added.

“For example, we welcome DAP’s Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang’s proposal for a roundtable meeting of all like-minded parties - inlcuding those from BN and Umno - to join forces with the opposition movement to rescue the country from this worsening crisis,” he said.