PKR splits state from party, initially asked Zaid to head S’gor

ARCHIVES 2010

By admin-s On Jun 28, 2010

“We know our weaknesses and we are trying to address them as quickly as we can. We don’t want to be the sick man in Pakatan, but at every step of the way, our No. 1 enemy keeps trying to block us with their media manipulation”.

By Malaysia Chronicle

The PKR retreat ended with de-facto head Anwar Ibrahim taking steps aimed at strengthening the party for the next general elections, in particular to safeguard jewel in the Pakatan crown, the Selangor state government.

As advised by Selangor Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, Anwar agreed to separate the functions of the state administration from the party. He transferred the PKR state chief post to vice president Azmin Ali, who in turn yielded his Federal Territory chief post to Zaid Ibrahim. Khalid will remain as chief minister.

“These are good moves because it capitalizes on the different strengths of the personalities involved. In Azmin, Umno will find a very much tougher foe and this is what they have feared. It may be why there was so much media hysteria generated towards PKR in the past few days,” Batu MP Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

“Khalid is a good Mentri Besar, he has a natural multi-racial touch that goes down well with the Selangor people. Azmin keeps a much lower profile but he is very agile, a fighting-fit boxer when it comes to political strategy. Khir Toyo won’t stand a chance.”

Weak party building

Indeed, one of the main topics of discussion at the two-day retreat was to dissect why PKR’s party-building was weak even in the states that the Pakatan Rakyat controlled.

“The consensus from the leaders who attended was that governance in the Pakatan states was good but we did not put in enough effort to expand our party machinery or to reach out to voters. They blamed this for the recent loss in the Hulu Selangor by-election,” Tian said..

“For Selangor, which is PKR’s main state, Tan Sri Khalid acknowledged that he often had to give state matters priority over party matters. He suggested we split the functions, and initially, Zaid Ibrahim was proposed to take over as Selangor PKR chief. But later, because Azmin is more familiar with the grassroots here, Anwar decided to pass Selangor to Azmin and give FT to Zaid.”