THE feud between PKR president Anwar Ibrahim and his deputy Mohamed Azmin Ali is expected to come to a head in the next four days when the party holds its annual congress in Malacca.

Yet, nobody can pinpoint with certainty when the fallout between Anwar and Azmin occurred and why.

Right up to the last general election, Azmin, who joined Anwar when the latter was the deputy prime minister in the 1990s (1993-1998), played the perfect deputy outside the Sg Buloh prison walls where the then PKR adviser was jailed.

Besides former PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and her daughter, Nurul Izzah Anwar, Azmin played an important role in the tricky negotiations with then arch enemy Dr Mahathir Mohamad and other component parties to finalise the Pakatan Harapan pact.

And in between his duties as Selangor menteri besar, Azmin often carried little notes from the Sg Buloh prison to convey Anwar’s wishes ahead of the 14th general election.

So how did it turn so bad is such a short time?

Some say their feud began after the “Kajang move”, when Azmin beat Anwar’s wife, Wan Azizah, to the menteri besar’s seat, while others say it started when Azmin was conspicuously left out of the list of MPs that PKR submitted to Dr Mahathir for his cabinet in 2018.

Yet others felt that the straw that broke the camel’s back was when Anwar threw his support behind former Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli in the deputy president’s race last year.

Although, Rafizi lost to Azmin, he was later appointed as party vice-president amid protests from Azmin’s camp.

And as a result of that, Azmin didn’t attend any of the last 20 party meetings with Anwar until yesterday, when he turned up at the party’s political bureau meeting at Wan Azizah’s office in Parliament.

Another suggestion is that Azmin is trying to thwart Anwar’s plan to succeed Dr Mahathir by going around everyone’s backs to hold midnight meetings with Barisan Nasional MPs to shore up support for the 94-year-old to remain as prime minister until the next general election.

In between all this is the scandalous sex video allegedly involving Azmin that is purportedly masterminded by Anwar’s supporters several months back.

With all this as a backdrop, it is hard to determine what will dominate the PKR congress this weekend – Anwar and Azmin’s feud or the problems plaguing the PH government.

A mountain can’t hold two tigers

Be it a pressure group, business or a political party, there should be proper structure and organisational discipline, said long-time PKR leader Johari Abdul.

“Structure is very important as it provides for who is the president and who is the deputy. When there is a dispute between the top two, there are only two options – either resign or support.

“You cannot be attacking the chief and hope to continue working in the same place,” the Sg Petani MP told The Malaysian Insight when asked what he thought of the Anwar-Azmin feud.

Azmin, said Johari, cannot be attacking Anwar, ignoring instructions and letting his followers organise meetings to disrupt the party’s congress.

Over the past week, factions allegedly from Azmin’s side were said to be organising a parallel congress in Kuala Lumpur while PKR holds its annual congress in Malacca. So far, Azmin has not said anything about the “second” congress.

“This is the doing of a handful of people who don’t support Anwar and want to help Azmin. It’s just a small faction. The grassroots are not like that at all,” said Johari.

Deputy Transport Minister Kamaruddin Jaafar, an Azmin ally, does not like what’s happening in the party now.

“The situation does not look good. There’s no point hiding the fact.

“But ultimately, it’s up to the party leaders, especially the MPs to ensure there is a stable political situation,” said the Bandar Tun Razak MP.

Kamaruddin, however, does not have any answer as to how Anwar and Azmin can reconcile.

Penang exco Afif Bahardin said the congress may be the only place left for the two to make up.

He said the mandate was given to both Anwar and Azmin and members want to see them lead together.

“But that has not happened yet. I think the congress is the best place to achieve this. We want to use the convention as a platform to unite the party. So, let’s go back to that,” said the Azmin supporter.

“We (PKR) have overcome so many challenges when Anwar was in prison for almost two-thirds of the last 20 years. We have overcome issues when people said PKR was PH’s weakest link.

“And we are the only multiracial party that has the support of the public. So, we need to find a way to overcome what is happening now,” said the Seberang Jaya assemblyman.

Who’s stronger?

Strength in the party is a subjective question, said Ledang MP Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh.

“Although, Azmin beat Rafizi last year, the difference was only 5%. So, he shouldn’t think that he has everyone behind him.

“It is important to get the support of your friends as well as your foes in politics to move forward,” said Syed Ibrahim.

Johari also does not believe that Azmin is as strong as perceived because some of his supporters have since shifted back to Anwar.

“Perhaps they know that Anwar will be prime minister one day or that they feel that Anwar is still the president despite the difference of opinions,” said the former National Civics Bureau (BTN) director.

Syed Ibrahim said Anwar is still in charge of the party.

“Anwar can accept disagreements within the party. Deep down, he feels they can come back to the party and attend meetings, etc. The only area that he won’t compromise is on corruption.

“And Anwar does command the support of the majority. He just has not used his full authority against his critics and for that I think he’s the most patient man I have ever met,” said Syed Ibrahim.

Batu Pahat MP and Deputy Speaker Mohd Rashid Hasnon is hopeful that Anwar and Azmin can resolve their differences at the congress this week.

“I hope they can still come together. We are one of the components in the government and there’s a lot of work to do.

“We should not be fighting like this or we risk losing support,” said Rashid.

As of now, there are no indications that Anwar and Azmin will be able to reconcile ahead of the congress.

Will the two kiss and make up like Tajuddin Abdul Rahman and Ismail Mohamed Said? Or will it be another case of the PKR mantra “lawan tetap lawan”?

At last night’s political bureau meeting, it was decided that Azmin, as the party’s deputy president, will open the party’s national women and youth congress.

This brings to an end the controversy and acrimony over an earlier decision not to allow Azmin to open the youth congress.

Anwar will deliver the president’s policy speech on Saturday to the main congress. – December 5, 2019.