Anwar Ibrahim
KUALA LUMPUR: PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today he has no knowledge about his deputy Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali’s purported intention to leave the party and join Gerakan.
Anwar declined to comment further on the speculation and urged all parties to stop trying to pit him against Mohamed Azmin.
“I did not hear about it…the media told me. We move on with the economic agenda,” he told reporters after attending the Malaysian Economic Symposium themed “Malaysian Economy: Now and the Future” in Parliament here.
Yesterday, a news portal quoted sources as saying that Mohamed Azmin, who is Economic Affairs Minister, was planning to join Gerakan because of the tension between him and Anwar.
Mohamed Azmin has not commented on the report yet.
Gerakan quit Barisan Nasional after the former was wiped out in the 14th general election and has yet to join any coalition.
Meanwhile, Gerakan president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau Hoe Chai said any Pakatan Harapan component party member was welcome to join Gerakan as it is a multi-racial party.
“We are always open, welcome anybody, as long as they agree with our ideology,” he said at a press conference which was streamed live on social media from Sungai Petani today.
In IPOH, PKR vice-president Zuraida Kamaruddin said it would not be easy to oust Mohamed Azmin from the party as he was elected by party members.
“He is deputy president, elected by party members. Not that easy even if there is a plot against him,” she told reporters today.
Zuraida was asked to comment on rumours that certain quarters were trying to oust Mohamed Azmin amidst speculation linking the PKR deputy president to a move to join Gerakan.
In MELAKA, PKR information chief Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin said he did not think Mohamed Azmin would defect to Gerakan.
“I do not think Mohamed Azmin would act this way, going by his long experience as a politician since the Reformasi era in 1998,” he told reporters today.
In KUANTAN, Pahang PKR chief Fuziah Salleh said 10 out of the 14 division heads of the party in the state had signed a petition to signify their unequivocal support for Anwar to continue helming PKR.
The divisions are Lipis, Cameron Highlands, Kuantan, Kuala Krau, Maran, Indera Mahkota, Raub, Jerantut, Rompin and Temerloh.
The Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and Kuantan MP said the heads of the other four divisions namely Bera, Bentong, Pekan and Paya Besar who had yet to sign it had been contacted but so far had yet to make a decision. – Bernama