It was wrong for Bersatu supreme council member Azmin Ali to compare the Sheraton Move with the Kajang and Port Dickson by-elections, said Kebun Bunga assemblyperson Jason Ong Khan Lee.

In a statement yesterday, the PKR representative said the Sheraton Move was an incident where a democratically elected government was ousted through defections among MPs, leading to years of political instability.

In contrast, Ong (above) said the Kajang and Port Dickson by-elections involved the seeking of the peoples' mandate.

"The Kajang and Port Dickson by-elections were intended and planned to enable a capable, courageous, reformist, and visionary leader to be in a position to lead both the state and federal governments while keeping both seats intact under Pakatan Harapan's rule.

"This was carried out in a democratic manner where voters could have rejected the candidate had they so wished, through the ballot box," he added.

Ong was referring to the contents of Azmin's interview with Astro Awani that was aired on Oct 25.

Azmin cries betrayal

Azmin had accused PKR of "betraying" voters by forcing able-bodied lawmakers to resign, paving the way for the Kajang and Port Dickson by-elections in 2014 and 2018 respectively.

In both instances, the PKR candidates - Dr Wan Azizan Wan Ismail and Anwar Ibrahim respectively - retained the seats for the party in a convincing fashion.

From left: PKR’s Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Anwar Ibrahim, then Selangor menteri besar Khalid Ibrahim and then PKR deputy president Azmin Ali during the Kajang by-election in March 2014.

"The lawmakers were healthy. They could still serve. They were chosen by the rakyat.

"However, they were forced to step down to fulfil the greed of someone who wants to be prime minister. Was that not betrayal?" asked Azmin.

Azmin eventually benefited from the power struggle in Selangor and was appointed menteri besar in September 2014.

As for the Sheraton Move, this event referred to the decision by Bersatu and 10 PKR MPs - including Azmin - to defect from Harapan in February 2020 to form a new government under Muhyiddin Yassin.

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