PKR civil war goes on
It is an open secret that there is a split in People’s Party Justice (PKR), with two camps fighting for dominance and influence. It was reported that the camps are led by Azmin Ali and Anwar Ibrahim via Rafizi Ramli.
In Azmin’s corner, he has strong support from party vice presidents Zuraida Kamaruddin and Tian Chua, Lawyers for Liberty executive director Latheefa Koya and others. Whereas, the other side has supporters like PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution, Nurul Izzah, Nik Nazmi and etc.
Following the series of Nurul Izzah’s resignations, Azmin tweeted some “attacks” on her.
Chronologically, Nurul resigned from her position as the chairperson of Bills Committee, the vice-president of PKR and the chairperson of Penang PKR, and as a member of Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
Azmin responded via his Twitter page, calling Nurul Izzah a “crybaby” (March 24).
Following that, Nik Nazmi was quick to jump to Nurul’s defence, labelling Azmin’s action as a “cheap shot” (March 24).
While Rafizi was expected to show his support for Nurul Izzah, he kept mum on the matter. Instead, opposition member Khairy Jamaluddin (UMNO) is the one who came forward to back Nurul (March 24).
In Khairy’s reply to Nik Nazmi’s tweet, he called out Azmin on his ability as the Economic Affairs Minister.
On the other hand, Zuraida described Nurul Izzah’s PAC resignation as “nothing new”, as she has been resigning from her positions in the past.
However, Nurul did not go under the radar after her recent resignation. She gave a negative remark on Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in an interview with a Singapore press. Her statement invited criticisms from many sides including the Prime Minister’s political secretary Abu Bakar Yahya.
On the contrary, PKR President and Nurul Izzah’s father Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim defended his daughter, insisting that his family is still supporting Tun Mahathir’s leadership.
It seems like the civil war in PKR is being dragged out further and further. Will a solution finally be found, or will an official split be the only way out for both ends?