GE14 | Once bitter enemies in PKR, former senator Ezam Mohd Noor and caretaker Selangor menteri besar Mohamed Azmin Ali came together for a meeting ahead of the 14th general election.

The meeting, which took place at the Selangor menteri besar’s office yesterday, was also attended by PKR leaders Khalid Jaafar and Mansor Othman.

Azmin, Ezam and Khalid were PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim's aides when he was deputy prime minister.

When contacted, Ezam confirmed the meeting, but denied that he would be returning to PKR.

"There are no plans to join PKR or any other party," he told Malaysiakini.

Ezam said the meeting was set up for him to present his book, Al-Ghulul: Kecurian Wang Negara, published by his NGO Hisbah Centre.

He described the meeting with his former rival as friendly, and praised Azmin's performance as menteri besar.

"We both have been rivals and friends before, so it was easy to build rapport," he said.

Parti Keadilan Nasional

Both Ezam and Azmin had quit Umno following Anwar's sacking as deputy prime minister in 1998. They helped form Parti Keadilan Nasional, the predecessor to PKR.

In 2007, while Ezam was the PKR Youth chief and Azmin was the PKR vice-president, they were engaged in a public spat.

Ezam had attacked Anwar, accusing him of being a "weak dictator" and claiming that Azmin was controlling the PKR leader.

Ezam later quit PKR and rejoined Umno the following year.

He was appointed a senator in 2010. In 2014, Ezam was appointed as a communications director in the Finance Ministry, which is headed by caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

However, Ezam quit Umno in 2016, citing unhappiness at the auditor-general's report on 1MDB being kept secret under the Official Secrets Act 1972.