PKR denies fallout in Johor
The party denies allegations that its Johor chief Chua Jui Meng, has strained ties between PKR and DAP in the past two years.
Anisah Shukry, FMT
PKR has rubbished claims that its Johor chief Chua Jui Meng has strained ties between PKR and DAP.
“There is no issue of a collapse among Pakatan Rakyat coalition parties in Johor over the past two years as claimed by (Johor DAP chief) Dr Boo (Cheng Hau) as PKR have always invited DAP leaders for its functions and vice versa,” said PKR deputy secretary-general Steven Choong in a statement today.
Instead, Choong suggested that any tension existing between the two parties were a result of Boo’s rejection of PKR’s invitations as well as his “unkind remarks” towards Chua and PKR.
Yesterday, Boo had said that the development over the past two years had been detrimental to Johor Pakatan Rakyat unity and placed the blame squarely on Chua’s shoulders.
“…Johor Pakatan had cordial inter-party relationships and (was) effective in resolving seats negotiation at the state level previously before Chua joined Pakatan,” he had said in a statement.
He claimed that Chua had acted “like an absolute monarch” within Johor Pakatan by vetoing a consensus among grassroots leaders on the Johor Bahru parliament line-up, in which DAP was to contest in the Stulang state seat, PAS the Tanjung Puteri state seat and PKR the Johor Bahru parliament.
Responding to this, Choong said: “Boo’s claim… is again untrue. PKR’s stand is that all seats belong to the party and no one has the single right to let go of any seat without the prior consent of the party’s top brass.”
“Hence, Johor Bahru PKR violated the party’s direction and the agreement could not be binding on PKR. I was instructed by the party not Chua to communicate PKR’s stand to the leaders of the three parties of the Johor Bahru parliamentary division or branch in 2011,” he added.
Karpal’s intervention regretted
Choong said that it was “unkind” of Boo to maintain that Chua did not respect the history of close collaboration among the three parties, and urged the latter to show evidence that Chua was “turning PKR into another MCA”.
