Exodus in Ampang PKR as members follow Zuraida to PN
Ampang PKR has been hit with an exodus as several members today announced they were quitting and will back the current Perikatan Nasional government.
Announcing his departure today, Ampang PKR vice chief D Nallan said some 250 members from the division were leaving.
Ampang PKR has been hit with an exodus as several members today announced they were quitting to back the current Perikatan Nasional government.
Announcing his departure today, Ampang PKR vice chief D Nallan claimed some 250 members from the division were leaving.
Among others, they expressed unhappiness with PKR's treatment of former PKR vice-president Zuraida Kamaruddin who is also the MP of Ampang.
Apart from losing faith in PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, the Ampang PKR leadership feels uncertain about the future when Zuraida, “who is loyal and received majority support”, is ousted from the party without reasonable cause.
"We are slighted and disappointed when leaders who have contributed to the party are sacrificed by the leadership which is clearly biased, causing division in the party," Nallan told a press conference in Ampang today.
Zuraida, a loyalist to former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, had together with her boss, defected to PN amid a feud between Azmin and Anwar.
Azmin led a total of 10 PKR MPs to join forces with Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin who took his party out of the Pakatan Harapan government, leading to its collapse.
Together, they formed the new PN government comprising Bersatu, the PKR defectors, BN, PAS, GPS, PBS and Star.
Reading from a prepared text, Nallan said PKR was no longer the reformist party that it was and was now merely a tool for Anwar's ambition to become prime minister.
"Therefore, after careful consideration and to uphold the principles, honour and self-respect in our struggle, we have decided to leave PKR.
"Our focus now is to strengthen the PN government which is behind Muhyiddin who was appointed by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong in accordance with the Federal Constitution," he said.
Meanwhile, the remaining Ampang PKR leadership, in a separate statement, maintained the division was still intact.
"We strongly deny claims by the former committee members that the Ampang PKR division has been dissolved.
"We, the Ampang PKR committee members, are still loyal and confident in the leadership of Anwar Ibrahim as the PKR president and Amirudin Shari as the Selangor PKR chairperson.
"The 22-year reform effort will not stop simply because a few who intend to betray by quitting the party," they said.
The statement was signed by 18 elected Ampang PKR central and wing committee members and four appointed ones.
Dr what is your status in Bersatu,a Malay and Islam based party?
I'm not a member of PKR but I voted for PH and am concerned with issues that weaken PH. I'm not concerned by Azmin Ali, Zuraida Kamarudin and nine other PKR MPs leaving or sacked by the party and joining Bersatu during the “Sheraton Move” political coup. The exodus of 250 members from the Ampang PKR is a natural development of that. However, I'm concerned that five members previously aligned to Azmin: Haniza Talha, Nur Zarina Zakaria, Rahimah Majid, Dr Afif Bahardin and Zulkifli Ibrahim were sacked. Furthermore, Tian Chua, Ginie Lim and Carolyn Khor were given warning letters. This is a purge of the faction that supported Azmin in the previous party election. This undermines Anwar's reputation as a reformasi leader. I'm definitely not a fan of Azmin but I see that Anwar's insistence that he be leader of PKR and the "next" PM is a stumbling block to those who believe another would make a better leader. They don't view Anwar as "ordained" or "God-sent". Reformasi cannot be about suppressing dissenting voices. The problem worsened when PH won the General Election and Anwar was seen edging out those who had worked hard for the party while Anwar was in prison. The irony is that in the 2010 party election, Anwar backed Azmin against Zaid Ibrahim for the deputy presidency. Zaid later withdrew his candidacy, alleging fraud and electoral misconduct in the party polls. If Zaid had eventually become the president of PKR, history might have taken a turn for the better. (Yes, I'm a fan of Zaid Ibrahim). The five who were sacked five days ago are Malays and could have joined either Bersatu or UMNO if they had wanted to climb onto Muhyiddin's PN bandwagon of riches. But they didn't. This speaks well of their allegiance to reformasi. If Reformasi is to live or die with Anwar, than it will die. Though Anwar is usually credited as the father of Reformasi, the fact is that Lim Kit Siang was talking about reformation even when Anwar was still in UMNO. But LKS is Chinese and sadly, he doesn't count here.
Showing their greed for power with a stupid reason...
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