KUALA LANGAT – Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali claims his former party PKR is now led by a dictator, going by the way the political outfit is silencing those who share differing views with the top leadership.
He said this in reference to how certain party leaders who were previously aligned with him and had been vocal against the party are being deliberately dropped from contesting in the 15th general election.
“Unfortunately, PKR now is being led by a dictator, so you can’t even express your concerns and criticisms in the party,” he told reporters after attending a Perikatan Nasional (PN) ceramah, here, last night.
“How is someone like this going to lead the country? If you can’t manage your own small party, how do you expect the public to have confidence in you to lead the country?”
While he did not mention any names, Azmin is ostensibly referring to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is the PKR president.
The PN election director was asked to comment if he believes certain members of PKR were overlooked from contesting in the polls due to their previous alliances with him.
Among the names included former PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang and several incumbent MPs such as Sivarasa Rasiah (Sg Buloh), Maria Chin Abdullah (Petaling Jaya) and Chan Ming Kai (Alor Star).
However, in a recent exclusive interview with The Vibes, Chua had dismissed suggestions that he was ever part of Azmin’s faction, describing the label given to him as unfair.
To this, Azmin said the fact that “many of them” were dropped from contesting in the election is quite telling.
“But why do you (Chua) have to take that position to distance yourself from me? I’m no longer in PKR, I was sacked. But he (Chua) is still being shadowed by Azmin. I just can’t understand.”
BN, PH shameless for fielding candidates with graft charges
Earlier in his speech at the ceramah, Azmin called out Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) hypocrisies for claiming to offer a stable and clean government despite fielding candidates who are mired in corruption charges.
He said this is different from PN, where none of its election hopefuls are entangled in any court cases.
“Just look at BN-Umno. Some of them go up and down the court, embroiled in corruption and abuse of power. Yet, they have no shame in filing their nomination papers (to be election candidates).
“The same goes for PH. They brag about reformation, wanting to bring renewals. But how many of their candidates are facing graft charges? There is no shame at all for them to file their nominations.
“But thank god, all of PN’s candidates are clean and have never been charged in court. This is something voters must consider. This is why PN exists,” he said.
On a separate matter, Azmin told reporters that there is growing support for PN ahead of polling day, with an increasing number of voters now convinced by what the coalition has to offer the country.
This, he said, is aided by PN’s performance while in federal power, as well as its recently announced election manifesto.
“You can see the momentum is mounting, growing compared to before nomination day. This is especially after we introduced our manifesto. They (voters) believe it is doable, because of what we have achieved in those difficult years in 2020 and 2021.”
Asked if he is confident PN will be able to capture some of the seats currently held by the opposition, Azmin said the changing political landscape has offered the coalition a good chance of victory.
“We have a huge number of new voters. What is needed now is for our machinery to reach out to them, engage and explain issues. I strongly believe in the wisdom of our voters.
“Once you get them to know the facts and what we’ve done in the last two years, God willing, they will support PN,” he said. – The Vibes, November 10, 2022
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