Anwar (third right), Zuraida (third left) and Tian Chua (second left), Saifuddin (left), Ali (right) and Baru (second right) during the meeting last night. – Photo by Muhd Rais Sanusi
KUCHING: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) leaders in Sarawak have been told by party president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to move forward and move on from the recent tensions affecting the party.
PKR Sarawak chairman Baru Bian said ‘moving forward, moving on’ was the tagline used by Anwar during his closed-door meeting with the party’s state leadership council (MKN), state women committee and state youth committee late last night.
“I took that as positive response (from Anwar) because I too said the same thing that we have to move forward. I don’t want to dwell in the past, on the disputed issues.
“But then I think what is more important as far as we are concerned, my state leadership council agree with me that the ‘rakyat’ (people) are very concerned about how we (PKR) should improve the economy of the country, how we can meet the needs on the ground, and the bread and butter issue of the people. We are aware of this, so we are trying to rise over all these internal bickering in the party,” said Baru when met by reporters after the meeting after midnight.
The closed-door meeting took place after the Pakatan Harapan Sarawak Baru dinner organised by the state branches of Pakatan Harapan components at Imperial Hotel Kuching where Anwar was one of the speakers.
Baru said that the meeting, held at the same hotel as the dinner, was a good dialogue and allowed Anwar as party president to give his advice and encouragement to the party leaders in Sarawak as the party prepares for the 12th State Election due in 2021.
He also said apart from Anwar, the other key leaders at the meeting were PKR secretary general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution who also briefed those present and urged them to be organised to achieve its mission of winning the coming state election.
On a related matter, Baru said the declaration of support for both Anwar and deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali which was issued last Saturday night was indeed the stand of PKR Sarawak’s MKN and not a statement by him ‘out of fear for his party post’ as claimed by a news portal.
He pointed out the statement had the support of 24 out of the 30 divisional chiefs in Sarawak, including Julau MP Larry Sng who is Julau division chief and Santubong division chief Ahmad Nazib Johari who were the last two to give their support.
The report in news portal quoted an unnamed PKR Sarawak division chief as saying that Baru issued the statement because he (Baru) was scared of losing control of his post as PKR Sarawak chairman.
“It quoted a PKR person. I don’t know whether this is true or not… The statement had nothing to do with my post in the party, but it was the stand of the MKN of PKR Sarawak.
“It is clearly stated in the statement if one were to read it carefully. It’s not that I lobby for the post (to be retained), as this post (as PKR Sarawak chairman) comes with very heavy responsibility,” he said.
On a separate issue, Baru said the request by Bersatu to contest few seats in the coming state election under PH is worth considering.
He pointed out that Bersatu is the newest PH component in Sarawak, and any requests for seat allocation should be discussed in the coming PH Sarawak Council meeting.
“If there is any claim by Bersatu, I think we should consider and whether it is feasible. Therefore, we have to make the decision at the coming State PH Council meeting.
“I don’t see any problem considering that kind of request if there is merit in it,” he said.
Last night’s closed-door meeting also saw the presence of PKR vice presidents Tian Chua, Zuraida Kamaruddin and Ali Biju, and almost all divisional leaders.