PKR at loggerheads over Pakatan Harapan

“During the meeting of the MPP on Sunday, September 20, 2015, the MPP agreed and supported every effort of the president in continuing negotiations with all quarters towards forming a new pact, including spearheading the roundtable discussion.

“Clearly, MPP asked that no announcement be made during that session, on the contrary it should open the space for more discussions,” the petitioners said.

They said the meeting, which ended with Dr Wan Azizah announcing Pakatan Harapan’s formation, should have merely been a “preliminary discussion”.

PKR will now hold a meeting to trash out the differences next Sunday, according to a letter issued by secretary-general Rafizi Ramli and sighted by The Malaysian Insider.

The letter, dated September 30, said the meeting would be held on October 11 to discuss matters raised in the petition.

The letter was addressed to MPP members, as well as to members of the party’s political bureau, federal lawmakers and state assemblymen.

However, Rafizi, as well as several signatories of the petition, including PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang, Latheefa Koya and N. Surendran, refused to comment when contacted.

“I have just seen the letter (from the secretary-general). I refuse to comment on the matter,” Surendran, the Padang Serai MP, told The Malaysian Insider.

Latheefa denied signing the petition, while Chua, also known as Tian Chua, said he would not comment on the matter.

But other party sources confirmed with The Malaysian Insider that the letter and petition were genuine, and claimed it was spearheaded by a faction led by PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali, although he had not signed it.

Azmin could not be reached for comment.

One PKR source told The Malaysian Insider that this faction believed PAS should be a part of the opposition coalition.

The source, who supported Pakatan Harapan, added that the signatories were mistaken in claiming that the president had acted against the MPP’s wishes.

“After we discussed the matter at length in the September 20 meeting, the president finally told the MPP: ‘Give me the mandate to decide what to do during the roundtable discussion’.

“And they agreed to that. So it really shouldn’t be an issue at all,” the party source said on condition of anonymity.

He said not all signatories were part of “Azmin’s faction”. Several of the signatories later regretted signing the petition once the entire situation had been explained to them, he said.

The source added that he saw no point in delaying the launch of Pakatan Harapan any further because PAS would never join their fold.

“The PAS president couldn’t even turn up for Pakatan Rakyat presidential meetings, we had three-cornered fights in the election with them as our ally, (and) they have insulted our president.

“We have tried our level best, but what’s the point of having them in the new coalition? We also know they will never join a pact with DAP and Amanah.

“Anyway, it’s not like we have cut ties with PAS entirely. Pakatan Harapan will still cooperate with PAS.

“It’s just that PAS will not share a common policy or a manifesto with the parties in Pakatan Harapan.”

He played down the entire dispute, saying that factions in PKR had always existed, and the signatories would have to come to terms with the fact that Dr Wan Azizah’s decision was final.

On September 22, Dr Wan Azizah announced the formation of Pakatan Harapan, a new opposition coalition to replace Pakatan Rakyat which dissolved over unresolved disputes between DAP and PAS.

The new pact comprises DAP, PKR and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah). PAS, one of the original members of Pakatan Rakyat, did not attend the meeting, and has said it will never work with DAP nor with Amanah, which was formed by a splinter group from the Islamist party.

Dr Wan Azizah also announced Pakatan Harapan had agreed that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would be their choice for prime minister should it wrest Putrajaya. – October 2, 2015.