THE recent spate of public spats between PKR president Anwar Ibrahim and his deputy, Mohamed Azmin Ali, have made many within the party uncomfortable as they fear the increasingly caustic disagreements signal a deepening fracture in the party.

One party source told The Malaysian Insight that the recent incidences reflected a serious problem within the party, despite efforts by party leaders to downplay the issue.

“They are not on the same wavelength anymore after the party elections. Azmin is still angry that Anwar has appointed those who lost, particularly those who are close to Rafizi Ramli,” said the source.

Rafizi was appointed vice-president despite losing in his bid for the deputy president position, held by Azmin, in the bitterly fought party polls last year.

“Anwar could have appointed him as director of communications (instead). The appointment did not go down well with party members,” said the source.

“Another (issue) was the appointment of Johari Abdul as Kedah state chief, even when he lost his division. The man who beat Johari now has to take orders from the former,” he said.

Both Rafizi and Johari are among PKR leaders in Anwar’s “camp”, which opposes Azmin’s faction.

“We didn’t have problems with Anwar before and we supported him. But those who voted for Azmin are now having difficulties with Anwar,” said the source.

Earlier this week, Anwar told Azmin to “cool down” after the latter appeared to call his daughter, Nurul Izzah, a “cry baby” for resigning from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Nurul had stepped down in an act of protest over Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s decision to allow Ronald Kiandee, a government lawmaker, to continue heading the PAC.

Azmin had responded to Anwar’s message with a cryptic “ha ha ha” on his Twitter account.

Earlier this month, Anwar had also disagreed with Azmin’s call to push the Bumiputera agenda with a race-based economic plan.

Cool it down

But despite the heated public rows between the two, many PKR grassroots leaders are remaining cool.

Many brushed aside the increasingly caustic spats as mere “differences in opinion”.

“We in PKR have always celebrated differences in opinions and, as the last party elections will show, different teams are allowed to voice their opinions,” said PKR Bandar Kuching division chief Simon Sia.

Sia said both Anwar and Azmin remained committed to serving the country and their constituents.

“This is a democracy after all, so everyone is allowed to have their opinions. I do not see this as a big problem for PKR so long as, at the end of the day, both leaders can still sit down and work together,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Kulim Bandar Baru division chief Teh Lean Ong also dismissed the growing rift between the two men, saying all Malaysians have the right to comment on government decisions.

“Anwar’s remarks should not be seen as attacking Azmin, although it was a gentle reminder to him,” said Teh.

Stampin division secretary Desmond Kho agreed, and urged PKR members not to get distracted by the Anwar-Azmin matter, which he called a “peripheral issue”.

“They are just leaders with strong personalities. If Dr Mahathir can accept criticism, so should everyone else. Nobody is above criticism,” said Kho.

He said although Anwar and Azmin’s tweets were made in the public domain, they were just personal opinions.

“The remarks were made in their personal capacity and may not reflect the party’s views. I believe that both men are under a lot of stress to deliver on the (election) manifesto promises.” – March 28, 2019.