KUALA LUMPUR – As PKR looks to elect new leadership in the coming months, vice-president Chua Tian Chang is reminding members to keep infighting “within the four walls” of the party.
He said this is key to avoiding a repeat of the events that unfolded in the months leading up to the Sheraton Move in February 2020, where public bickering among PKR members threatened to hurt the party’s image.
With the party elections expected by next quarter, Chua said there are bound to be rivalries and differences of opinion, but said these must be kept in check.
“Members must know to minimise conflicts in public,” he told The Vibes.
“Behind the scenes, what you want to do is up to you. But we must remember that we are dealing with public perception.
“We cannot be seen publicly to be infighting too much, because then this will cause the people to lose confidence in us.”
PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil had said the party is expected to head to the polls by early next quarter following the end of the leadership’s term last year.
The election will see a number of new faces taking up prominent positions, after a number of leaders defected from the party in recent years, including Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali who previously held the post of deputy president.
Three of the four elected vice-presidents are also no longer holding on to their positions, with Nurul Izzah Anwar quitting the post in December 2018, and Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin and Datuk Xavier Jayakumar defecting.
The last party election in 2018 saw fierce rivalry between the two factions of PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin.
By the conclusion of the polls, the cracks that had emerged between the two camps were beyond repair.
Things came to a head when Azmin led his group out of the political outfit, contributing to the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government two years ago, ultimately dashing any hopes of Anwar becoming the prime minister then.
Chua, who was a known Azmin ally, remained in the party and was initially sidelined by many within the ranks, although he now appears to be welcomed again.
While critics and others within PKR see the party as a united front now with most of the “political frogs” gone, Chua said this is not necessarily the case, as there will always be differences in opinion among members.
“When we expand as a party, of course there will be differences, be it in thinking or strategy. We are bound to deal with it.
“We will have new challenges. I don’t think we should expect that we are going to be more united just because some members left.”
Chua said the onus is on the leadership to resolve any bickering that could have underlying effects, but internal competition will always be good to push the party forward.
“The only thing is that we must know how to accept differences and at the same time maintain our dynamism, in a way that does not undermine the party’s performance in the elections.” – The Vibes, January 16, 2022
