PKR’s appointment of its state party chiefs lacks transparency and appears to favour candidates aligned to Rafizi Ramli, who heads one of two factions within the party, said lawyer and PKR member Latheefa Koya.
The outspoken rights lawyer said in a statement, with the exception of Sarawak and Selangor – which are headed by Baru Bian and Selangor Menteri besar Amirudin Shari respectively – all other state chiefs appointed by president Anwar Ibrahim “are known to be aligned to one of the two main factions in PKR”.
“Why the heavy imbalance favouring one faction? Appointments favouring one particular faction is tantamount to cronyism, which is anathema to any reform party,” she said.
Rafizi led a team of party leaders and members mounting a challenge against deputy president Azmin Ali during the recent PKR elections but failed to dislodge the incumbent.
The position of state chief is considered important because appointees are expected to set policies and negotiate with their Pakatan Harapan counterparts at the state level.
According to the party constitution, the president has to appoint the state PKR chief after consulting all the division leaders in the state, who are elected by the grassroots.
Anwar is also the only one with access to the ballots by PKR division leaders to pick their state chairman. The president is also not obliged to accept the results of the vote.
Latheefa said in Pahang and Sabah, where Fuziah Salleh and Christina Liew were appointed chairmen respectively, the candidates did not hold majority support among state division chiefs.
She said Anwar appointed the state party leaders based on their alignment to Rafizi and not because the individuals held the majority support of division chiefs.
“While the president is given the power to choose the respective state chief in consultation with the division chiefs, it is highly unusual and contrary to the spirit of the party constitution for the president to ignore the majority preference.
“In a reformist and democratic organisation, the party president cannot simply brush aside majority opinion.”
She also slammed the appointment of Nurul Izzah Anwar as Penang state chief as “highly inappropriate and open to the charge of nepotism”.
“It is needless to say that the practice of appointing close relatives to important positions should have no place in a reformist party.”
Latheefa said after the “scandal-ridden and disgraceful party election process”, the state chief appointments would further erode public confidence in the party.
“PKR cannot preach democracy to the country, while continuing to run the party on the basis coteries or factions, and ignoring basic democratic norms.
“It is imperative for PKR to explain to the public these dubious and disturbing appointments.” – December 17, 2018.
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Comments
Posted 7 years ago by BALAM KRISHNAN · Reply
Posted 7 years ago by Lee Lee · Reply
This is the downfall of PKR, believe it or not..
The right thing to do is ALLOW autonomy in the selection of All State Heads. Let them decide on majority consensus..
Posted 7 years ago by TTs Take · Reply
Posted 7 years ago by KC Yip · Reply
Posted 7 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply
Posted 7 years ago by Chai Hin Goh · Reply
Posted 7 years ago by Chai Hin Goh · Reply