GEORGE TOWN – PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang, better known as Tian Chua, has extended an olive branch to defectors who left the party along with Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali in February last year, saying they should abandon Perikatan Nasional for the sake of their political longevity.
“I think some of them regret (sanctioning the Sheraton Move) and helping trigger the formation of the ‘backdoor’ PN government, which has now become a hostile government embroiled in countless controversies,” he told The Vibes.
He said PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim may well be magnanimous and accept the defectors back into the party in the name of saving the country and to get on with the real task at hand: containing the Covid-19 pandemic.
We need to swallow our pride. This is not the time for politics, but to come together for the sake of the country and for some of their careers.”
Azmin led a group out of the party to become independents temporarily, to form the PN administration with the Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin-led Bersatu, as well as PAS and Barisan Nasional.
Chua said Muhyiddin may eventually cave in to the pressure to resign as prime minister, leaving Umno vice-president and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as his natural successor.
“This would mean that Umno is back in power, and when it is in power, I doubt its leaders would want to entertain Azmin and Co. They will become expendable.”
The more pressure Umno exerts on Muhyiddin, he said, the more the latter could opt to resign sooner rather than later so as to preserve his legacy.
Their (Azmin and other PKR defectors’) careers are hanging in the balance, so it is better for them to do the right thing for their careers and for the nation. Help correct the mistakes of the past.”
Attempts by The Vibes to contact Azmin and the other former PKR members were unsuccessful. – The Vibes, August 1, 2021
