PKR members who left the Gombak and Ampang divisions following the defections of their leaders, Mohamed Azmin Ali and Zuraida Kamaruddin, have little effect on the party, remaining members in those divisions say.

In the Ampang PKR division which lost 250 members, the committee and remaining members are carrying on as usual, said a committee member Suzannah Shaharudin.

She said the recent exodus were by those who held no positions or had little influence to hurt the party, and were already facing disciplinary action by PKR.

“For the Ampang division, those who left are 250 people out of the division’s 16,000 members, they will not have a big impact on the party.

“They said they want to dissolve the division, but they had already been suspended or sacked from the party before this, so they have no power to do anything to the division,” Suzannah told The Malaysian Insight.

She said remaining members were working with the division committee to prepare the local machinery for possible snap elections.

More PKR members from various divisions are expected to leave following the defection of 9 MPs who followed  Azmin, who led Gombak, and Zuraida, who led Ampang, as part of the Sheraton Move in late February, which led to the toppling of the Pakatan Harapan federal government.

Most of the 11 are now with Bersatu, which withdrew from PH and has formed the Perikatan Nasional government with Barisan Nasional, PAS and Gabungan Parti Sarawak. 

Only Baru Bian, the Selangau MP, joined Parti Sarawak Bersatu, a state opposition party.

The Ampang PKR division was “adopted” by the Selangor PKR leadership council, led by Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari.

Amirudin is also heading the Gombak division, formerly under Azmin.

“We are intact, since we have been adopted by the Selangor leadership,” Suzannah said.

The Ampang division is also restructuring its organisation following the sackings and exodus, said PKR activist Daing Mohamad Reduan.

“Those who held grassroots positions and who have been sacked, we will be electing new people to fill those posts. These include a village chief and a council member.

The Gombak division, meanwhile, has an acting head for the youth wing, after its former chief Hilman Idham, left the party with Azmin.

“There is no problem. The division had a little overhaul to find a new acting head for the youth since Hilman is gone.”

In early May, PKR suspended 285 members and sacked 348 others.

The party’s disciplinary board had probed members aligned to Azmin over his role in toppling the PH government.

Azmin and Zuraida had their memberships terminated immediately after the Sheraton Move, while other party leaders were suspended or removed in the subsequent weeks.

Notable suspended leaders include the women’s wing chief Haniza Talha, former youth deputy chief and Seberang Jaya assemblyman Dr Afif Bahardin, central leadership council member Mohd Radzlan Jalaludin  and Sabah Wanita chief Rahimah Majid.

Members who have left PKR since then include 500 from Batu Pahat led by its MP Mohd Rashid Hasnon, who defected along with Azmin.

Sementa assemblyman and former Selangor deputy speaker Daroyah Alwi has also quit PKR, taking along with her 48 members from the Kapar division which she led. She was also Selangor PKR women’s chief. – July 7, 2020.