PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang said party leaders should avoid political mudslinging and factionalism, lest it causes voters to lose confidence in the party and drive them away.
PKR, the largest Pakatan Harapan component with 50 federal lawmakers, will hold its party election from September through October but campaigning has already begun in earnest in the run-up to the nomination which starts this month.
Chua, who is better known as Tian Chua, said the recent smear tactics employed by hopefuls, including the use of poison letters circulated via social media, may actually harm Anwar Ibrahim’s chances of becoming prime minister.
“For Anwar to smoothly transition to prime minister, that would depend on the conduct of our candidates these elections,” he said in a phone interview, as the former Batu MP is overseas.
“It would be very hard for people to have confidence that we can run the government,” he told The Malaysian Insight.
Tian Chua, who is PKR vice-president, also criticised deputy president hopeful Rafizi Ramli for naming his running mates and calling delegates to support his “team”.
“We want avoid power-driven groups that are out there to just grab positions. Avoid being like a ‘cai dan’,” he said, using the Mandarin word for a menu.
The “menu” practice was common in party elections of Barisan Nasional components, where fixed lists of nominees were pitted in teams against each other. Fixed lists also allegedly served to guide delegates who to vote for.
“The public has high expectations of us. This election is not about who moves to what position. It’s about presenting a stable united party so that people can trust us to run the government,” he said.
Rafizi did not contest in the May 9 general election because of a court conviction after he leaked confidential information on the National Feedlot Corporation. He holds no other post in the party other than incumbent vice-president.
He is expected to take on incumbent deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali, the economic affairs minister.
On Sunday, Rafizi named his running mates as Nurul Izzah Anwar, Johari Abdul, William Leong, S. Kesavan, Fuziah Salleh, Rodziah Ismail, Akmal Nasir and Raymond Ahuar.
They will contest the four vice-presidential posts as well as the women and youth leader posts.
Tian Chua, who also did not contest in GE14 after a returning officer rejected his nomination on account of a RM2,000 fine imposed in a criminal case last year, was coy about whether or not he would be defending his post.
“I will make a decision soon. Not yet.”
Tian Chua said Malaysians were watching closely to see if the party was able to provide the right leadership.
“PKR is now a ruling party. The fate of the nation is now on our shoulders.
“Whether it’s Rafizi or Azmin, people want to see us provide leadership to help with the reconstruction of the country after 60 years of BN rule.
“We need to project ourselves to show how we want to lead our party and show willingness to work with all groups to be inclusive.” – August 3, 2018.
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Comments
The Rakyat must have confidence that PKR isnt a bunch of kids hungry for power. Right now , PKR has the most number of seats within the PH coalition. However its seen as the weakest component of PH , with factionalism and an ambitious Ketua Umum , who has been exhorting various statements ranging from Social Democracy to Neo Islamic Fascism ( how else to explain Erdoganism ? ) to Neo Liberal Economic theories. In fact , I have no idea what Anwar is all about , other than himself , mostly.
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