Stop party infighting if you want to be GE15 candidates, Anwar says
Those who were hoping to be made election candidates by the party, he said, have to stop fighting each other.
Failure to respect the order, Anwar told the party congress, would...
In what is seen as an attempt to keep PKR united ahead of the 15th general election, its president Anwar Ibrahim this morning gave an ultimatum to all members.
Those who were hoping to be made election candidates by the party, he said, have to stop fighting each other.
Failure to respect the order, Anwar told the party congress, would result in those involved not getting chosen to represent the party at all.
"I will not forgive party members including those at division level, youth and women's wings, who choose to continue being hostile after the party election.
"If you continue to be like this, I guarantee that there will be no watikah (appointment letter) for you," he said in his policy speech at the PKR National Congress 2022 in Shah Alam, Selangor today.
Watikah refers to appointment letters that the party president would issue to candidates who have been chosen by the leadership to contest an election.
PKR, like many parties, has a practice where only the party president has the power to issue a watikah.
Fearing a repeat of 2018
The party had just concluded its party election, which was held in May. The election results saw significant changes in PKR's leadership, including Rafizi Ramli, who had decided to take a rest from politics in 2018, being elected as PKR deputy president.
He won the post by defeating incumbent party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
Despite Saifuddin losing his bid for the deputy presidency, his camp, however, had emerged victorious for the PKR Youth and Women chief posts.
Many had voiced concerns that the party polls might see a repeat of the 2018 elections which saw PKR splinter as a result of infighting between factions loyal to then deputy president Azmin Ali and Rafizi.
Recalling the 2019 PKR National Congress held in Malacca, Anwar repeated his stern warning against traitorous acts within the party, based on tales of Si Kitul and Raja Mendeliar from the Malay fables.
He had narrated the tale for its message on how slander and traitorous acts could threaten a nation, the same message he delivered today.
Anwar's speech at the 2019 congress was delivered amid tension among factions within PKR involving a group of leaders who at the time sided with Azmin Ali, who eventually led an exodus from the party.
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