Anwar going for No 1, Azmin?

Patrick Sennyah & V Shankar Ganesh, fz.com

Parti Keadilan Rakyat de-facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim looks set to go for the party’s top position in the party polls which kicks off on April 25.

According to a senior party leader, Anwar was left with no choice as his wife, Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail, who is the current president does not want to defend the post which is being keenly sought after by party deputy president, Azmin Ali.

The party leader revealed that Azmin had openly declared his intentions to contest the top position at a party meeting in Selangor last week.

“He (Azmin) had said that he would go for the top position with or without Wan Azizah’s consent. He is prepared to fight anyone and because of this, Anwar is left with no choice. Azmin will not listen to any “sweet talk” from Anwar this time.

“Even if Azmin agrees to stay put as the number two, there is no guarantee that he will not be challenged by either Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim or even Nurul Izzah,” said the party leader.

The party leader said Azmin seems to have found himself cornered and this time, he is willing to go for broke.

Several party insiders also said that Azmin has built his support base nationwide and he believed that enough members would vote him even against Wan Azizah.

“Due to this, Anwar had to put a stop to it. Anwar cannot have his wife being challenged for the top post. What’s worse is the risk that she may even lose. If that happens, then Anwar’s influence within the party can be seen as waning and this could spell the start of the end for his political career in PKR.”

Another insider said Anwar’s decision would put tremendous pressure on Azmin as he would be entering a forbidden zone, which is taking on the party founder Anwar.

It is learned that Azmin and his group of strategists are now back at the drawing board to formulate their next move.

“From, what I learned, it could be some earth shattering news. But let’s just wait and see the developments over the next couple of weeks,” said the insider.

Nominations for the central committee positions will be held on March 29, while for the branches, it will be according to zones, from April 4 – 13.

The complete results for the new PKR leadership will be revealed on May 13 – after nationwide voting ends on May 11. Voting will be from April 25 – May 11.

In PKR, each member is allowed to vote on the party leadership.

The minimum condition is that those who want to vote must be a party member for at least a year.