ANWAR Ibrahim was more interested in becoming the prime minister rather than taking steps to unite PKR, which was divided after its elections in 2018, said former Sabah PKR wanita chief Rahimah Majid.

“No constructive action was taken to ease tension in the party,” Rahimah told The Malaysian Insight.

“The discussion was always on when he would replace Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister. That did not help.”

Rahimah, who was also a member of the party’s central leadership council until she left the party last week, said Anwar is aware of the problems in the party but failed to take action.

“It was his weakness that resulted in Pakatan Harapan losing power in Putrajaya and several states.”

She said the PKR president instead played a disruptive role by punishing various party leaders and members without valid reason.

“PKR is in a disarray now. What Anwar should be doing is pacifying members, uniting them and strengthening the grassroots.

“He must strengthen the party and not assume that all those who previously supported (former PKR deputy president) Mohamed Azmin Ali and (former vice-president) Zuraida Kamarudin are traitors,” Rahimah said.

Azmin and Zuraida were sacked from PKR after they defected to form a new federal government with Umno, PAS and Sarawak-ruling pact GPS members in March.

The new pact, Perikatan Nasional, replaced PH in Putrajaya, and took over administrations in Johor, Malacca, Perak and Kedah.

Azmin, Zuraida and eight other PKR leaders who left with them are all now members of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s administration.

Following the defections, PKR undertook a massive purge to get rid of leaders and members suspected of supporting Azmin.

The division in the party emerged when, in the 2018 party polls, Rafizi Ramli challenged Azmin for the deputy president’s post, supposedly with Anwar’s blessing.

While Azmin won, the party was left deeply divided as a result of the bitter fight. Anwar then appointed Rafizi as a vice-president, prompting anger in Azmin’s faction.

Rahimah was among almost 300 PKR members issued suspension letters for acting against the interest of the party during the political upheaval in February this year.

Earlier last week, she said she would not appeal against her suspension as she felt the party had acted without giving her a chance to respond. She then decided to leave the party.

“I was suspended but no reasons were given. Why should I appeal against an offence of which I know nothing about?”

She said while she was supportive of Azmin and Zuraida, that did not warrant her suspension from the party.

Rahimah slammed the party for acting blindly against those perceived to be Azmin supporters, without checking on their loyalty to the party first.

“The disciplinary board’s credibility is questionable. It has become the president’s tool,” she said.

Rahimah, who was also Kudat PKR chief, said she would quit the party alongside other state leaders, including nine senior leaders from Sabah PKR’s women’s wing.

“The party has been unfair to us. We fought for the party when Anwar was in prison. We used our own money to build the party.

“Anwar must remember that the party became strong as a result of everyone’s hard work.” – May 29, 2020.