PKR's Leadership Of PR Under Pressure
A Kadir Jasin

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PARTI Keadilan Rakyat leaders and the party’s growing league of defectors are washing their dirty linen in public, and the juicy inside story of the Anwar Ibrahim led opposition party is spilling out.

The party’s deputy president, Syed Husin Ali, on March 2 revealed what amounted to an acknowledgement that the reform-driven party has some very rich backers.

So rich that one of them was able to pay the ex-secretary general, Salehuddin Hashim, RM9,000 a month and the former Penang Deputy Chief Minister, Mohd Fairus Khairuddin, was paid RM4,000 despite quitting the post.

Salehuddin, once a senior executive in the UEM Group, left the party on Mar.1 while Mohd Fairuz exited on Mar. 2 and announced that he was joining Umno.

Yesterday (Mar. 3), the PKR MP for Bagan Serai, Perak, Mohsin Fadzli Samsuri, also left to become an independent legislator.

Other PKR MPs who also left the party to become independent members are the Bayan Baru representative Zahrain Hashim and the Nibong Tebal representative Tan Tee Beng.

Mohsin was reported as saying that he exited the party because he was concerned with Pakatan Rakyat’s politics, especially its stance on use of the term “Allah” by non-Muslims.

In what appears to be an attempt to discredit the defectors, Syed Husin claimed that Salehuddin was paid RM9,000 a month as secretary-general, and said he left because he was not being named head of Perangsang.

“The payment was not made by the party but by one of our supporters,” he told the Press.

It must have been a cultural shock for Syed Husin, who is used to the selflessness and poverty of his former socialist crowd, to deal with the selfishness and wealth and his present PKR flock.

Salehuddin responded by warning those attempting to strip him that they could end up losing their underpants. He was at the Press conference to announce the resignation of the Bagan Serai MP from the party.

As for PKR’s role as the leading PR component, its position may sooner or later become untenable despite the assurances by the DAP and Pas.

The DAP superemo, Lim Kit Siang, said Anwar Ibrahim would remain Parliamentary Opposition Leader and PR’s choice for prime minister.

It was a statement laden with hidden meanings when Lim said Anwar would remain Parliamentary Opposition Leader and PR’s choice for prime minister “even if the number of PKR representatives falls below that of the DAP.”

With three MPs gone, PKR is now even with the DAP at 28 each. Pas has 23 seats. PKR won 31 seats at the 2008 general elections.

Why such a strong support and endorsement for Anwar, who is now on trial for sodomy, from Lim? The answer is simple. Since a PM has to be Muslim, Lim knows that only PKR and Pas can supply the candidate.

The DAP chief surely cannot imagine having a Pas leader as the replacement for Anwar as the candidate for the PM post should PR win the next GE.

But what if Anwar is found guilty? Lim had recently stated that PR would survive without Anwar. But for that to happen, there has to be an acceptable replacement. It cannot be from Pas because the DAP is unlikely to accept it.

The highest-ranking Muslim (Malay) in the DAP is Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim, the party’s National Vice Chairman, who is now a senator. Could he be the dark horse? Or could it be the pro-tem chairman of PR, Mohd Zaid Ibrahim of PKR? The DAP should not have any problem supporting his candidacy.

Anwar also received that endorsement of Pas when its lawmakers issued a joint statement pledging support for Anwar to continue as de facto leader of the opposition alliance.

But so far only 12 out of 28 remaining PKR MPs had so far openly pledged loyalty to the party. They quickly blamed Umno and Barisan Nasional for allegedly attempting to divide the party by spreading rumours that more PKR representatives would jump ship.

Malaysiakini news portal, in an analysis entitled “Opposition Put On A Brave Face Amidst Defections”, among other things noted:

“After stunning success in the 2008 polls, which also netted the opposition control of five states, Anwar plotted to seize power by securing mass defections from the BN government.

“But it was the BN that ended up drawing defectors, wresting control of Perak when three state assemblymen jumped ship in early 2009.”

And if academician turned politician, Dr Mansor Othman was any good at making prediction, more PKR leaders will leave the party. Dr Mansor, who is the party’s Penang Chairman and Deputy Chief Minister 1, told the Press that he expects at least five more members, including elected representatives, to leave the party soon.

That cannot be good for the “reformasi” party and its PR allies.
Posted by A KADIR JASIN at 12:20 PM 23 comments