PETALING JAYA: Anwar Ibrahim has three options to strengthen PKR and retain its constituencies in GE15 to counter “Trojan horses” aligned with former deputy president Azmin Ali in the party, pundits say.
Political analyst Kenneth Cheng said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin does not have majority support and will try to woo more PKR MPs as he would not be able to get any elected representatives from DAP and Pejuang to back him.
He added that PKR should get its MPs to sign statutory declarations reaffirming their loyalty to the party as there were bound to be MPs and assemblymen who are still aligned with Azmin.
A source in the know told FMT that six PKR MPs aligned with Azmin have indicated they will only consider switching sides if they do not get to recontest their seats.
“If they fail (to keep their seats), they may jump ship to Gerakan and contest in the same constituency against PKR,” said the source.
The source added some may quit the party earlier as there is already talk of them being left out by the party as candidates for the next general election (GE15).
Like PKR, Gerakan is a multi-ethnic party, and the newest Perikatan Nasional (PN) component party could benefit from having some PKR bigwigs join its ranks.
Yesterday, Julau MP Larry Sng and Tebrau MP Steven Choong quit the party and declared their support for Muhyiddin.
Cheng, who is a member of Agora Society, a loose network of intellectuals said Anwar needs to decide on his next move.
“He either enforces discipline by purging these Trojan horses or convinces them to stay put,” he said.
Socio-political analyst Awang Azman Pawi said it may be difficult to stop Azmin’s men from leaving the party.
“Before the Parliament session starts, it is expected that PN will discuss and make offers to PKR MPs. They do not have the numbers,” he added.
He said the only way for PKR to move forward was to purge the party of those aligned with Azmin and bring in those dedicated to the party’s cause.
“There are a lot of professionals, activists and Otai Reformis members who have dedicated their lives to the party’s reform agenda,” he added.
Political analyst Kartini Aboo Talib of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia said other than purging or convincing PKR members to remain loyal to the party, PKR could ask Amanah to dissolve and merge with them.
She said Amanah was becoming irrelevant after failing to gain traction with the rakyat, and many members in the PAS splinter party may be losing confidence in its leadership.
“This way, PKR will be able to convince more Malay voters to vote for them,” she said.
Kartini added Anwar needed to go to the ground to meet his party members, including his machinery, and convince the rakyat on PKR’s role in the country.
On Saturday, three Amanah assemblymen in Johor – Khairuddin A Rahim, Faizul Amri Adnan and Muhamad Said Jonit – crossed over to PKR. Amanah communications director Khalid Samad said their departure was not surprising, adding that rumours of their exit from the party have been going around for some time now.
But he said their move would not affect ties within PH or between PKR and Amanah, adding that the assemblymen remained committed to the coalition.
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