Gobala slams Azmin, says ‘I’ll quit if…’
By Rahmah Ghazali, Free Malaysia Today
KUALA LUMPUR: PKR’s Padang Serai MP N Gobalakrishnan has lashed out at deputy presidential hopeful Azmin Ali and warned that he would quit if the “manipulation” continued.
Conceding that he did not see eye-to-eye with Azmin over several issues, Gobalakrishnan also accused him of using party supremo Anwar Ibrahim to further his cause.
Gobalakrishnan, who is linked to Azmin’s rival Zaid Ibrahim, claimed that Azmin was “running the party like his own company”.
“I urge him to come out and fight like a gentleman against Zaid. Don’t use all these tactics, trying to deny members from practicing democracy,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby this morning.
The MP was commenting on the party’s earlier decision to prevent Anwar’s daughter Nurul Izzah from contesting the number two post citing the Oct 10 deadline for divisions to submit their respective nominations.
However, PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told a press conference this afternoon that the party had decided to accept the nominations and allow Nurul to contest.
Critics claimed that there was a conspiracy to prevent her from contesting as it would render a blow to Azmin’s chances. Azmin is considered the favourite to win and is said to be Anwar’s preferred choice as well.
Zaid has previously announced last week that he would pull out from the race and back Nurul if she decided to contest. The 30-year-old Lembah Pantai MP had yet to announce her decision.
Others in the running are Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and vice-president Mustaffa Kamil Ayub.
‘Take action against me, I don’t care’
Fuelling the conspiracy theory, Gobalakrishnan claimed that “hidden hands” were behind the initial decision to disqualify Nurul from the contest.
“I am very angry that somebody who qualified through the democratic process is being denied (the opportunity to contest). Whether she contests or not is another matter,” he said.
“Why does the JPP (election commitee) accept some nominations and not others? Just because she has been nominated, some people are worried that she would contest,” he added.
Frustrated with these issues, Gobalakrishnan said there was no point for him to remain in the party if the “manipulation” continued.
“They can take action against me, I don’t care. They can call me Trojan (horse), traitor, but I will stay and fight. But if this (democratic) process does not take place, I don’t think I can stay,” he said.
