Anwar plays down alleged discord over appointment of new S’wak PKR chief
KUALA LUMPUR: PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yesterday played down a reported conflict in the appointment of the new Sarawak PKR chairman, saying there is no such thing and only the media has raised it.
“Such a thing has not come up, only raised by the media,” he said and added that it is normal for one or two to raise objections.
Anwar was asked whether there is a disagreement over the appointment of the new Sarawak PKR chairman.
In a terse reply, he asked why the media is only concerned about Sarawak.
“Why are you nosy? What’s the problem? Why are you not enquiring about the chairmen for Selangor, Penang or Perlis?” he asked when approached after he had delivered the Za’aba Lecture 2018 on ‘Malays and Islam in the Era of the New Malaysia’ at Universiti Malaya here.
Anwar’s reaction came as a surprise especially after he had calmly answered several other questions posed by the reporters.
There has been talk among Sarawak PKR members that current chairman Baru Bian may be replaced by Julau MP and Julau PKR Division head Larry Sng.
Some members have claimed that the Sarawak PKR chairman is appointed by the divisions, as per the Kuching Declaration 2012 and 2014, and not the party president as in the case of states in the peninsula.
Anwar said the appointment of the PKR chairmen will be made as usual in accordance with the party constitution.
Baru did not attend the 2018 PKR National Congress in Shah Alam last weekend because of ministry appointments and he said he had conveyed this to the congress secretariat through his political secretary Zakaria Abdul Hamid.
Asked about this, Anwar said he is aware of Baru’s explanation.
“I will advise him, in the future, (to) make sure the priorities are right. I think we want to move on. He did explain in detail. My concern is if every minister gives this sort of explanation, nobody will attend the congress.
“My position is that he has given an explanation, we accepted it, and we move on,” he said.