PKR has enough credible leaders to manoeuvre party, says Azmin

(NST) – PKR has enough credible leaders to manoeuvre the party into the right direction, said its deputy president Azmin Ali when asked about the call by some party members to appoint former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad as the de facto leader.

“I am convinced that we have enough leaders in the party to do the job and we don’t need outsiders.

“These are just provocations and I am not very keen of it. But we can solve this by discussing through the problem,” he said after launching the state government’s Chinese New Year road safety programme, here.

The call by certain quarters for the appointment of Mahathir was to replace the void of leadership that existed after Permatang Pauh member of parliament and the party’s de facto leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim lost the appeal to his sodomy II case in the Federal court and is set to serve jail term for the next five years.

When asked to confirm if PKR is facing a leadership crisis and whether the party will appoint a new party leader soon, Azmin said that Anwar’s current position is still valid as he will still be a member of parliament for the next 14 days before it is annulled automatically.

“There is no such leadership crisis as stipulated in the media. Everything is going fine and we are determined to move forward despite the fact that we have lost two prominent leaders, Anwar and the death of Pas spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat recently.

“Everything will be solved according to the way it has always been that is through concensus,” he said.

He added that PKR will continue its role to mitigate both DAP and Pas who have been struggling to find a middle ground in the battle of principles and various issues such as the implementation of Hudud law.

“The leadership of the late Nik Aziz will always serve as an inspiration to Pakatan leaders because he was able to bring together people from different creed and ethnicity with their respect and admiration for his character.

“I would not deny that Pas will struggle with such a tremendous loss to the party but they will have sufficient leaders to carry the party throughout this storm,” he said.