PKR’S women’s wing became a platform for the personal interests of its previous leaders rather than for the party, its newly minted chief, Fuziah Salleh, told The Malaysian Insight. 

Her predecessors had only been eager to fight for positions rather than work for the party or address women’s issues, she said.

“Since I left the wing in 2007, it has not changed much. What I saw was that Zuraida (Kamaruddin) and Haniza (Talha) only wanted positions.

“The struggle to fight for women and families was not there anymore. There was no more idealism,” Fuziah said, referring to the wing’s two former chiefs.

Fuziah was appointed the wing’s chief last month after Haniza was sacked for being a Mohamed Azmin Ali’s loyalist. Zuraida also suffered the same fate after falling out of favour with party president Anwar Ibrahim.

Both women were branded “traitors” following the “Sheraton move” in February, which saw 11 MPs leave the party, leading to the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan federal government.

Fuziah said while more than 100 female members left the party, the women’s wing was not affected.

“We audited 10 out of 14 (state chapters) and Ampang was the only one that collapsed.

“The grassroots structure was not affected. The women’s wing is still strong. Only the chief and deputy are gone. The organisation is still there,” said Fuziah, who is also Kuantan MP.

The wing has received 25,000 new applications in the past six months, she said, adding that some of them were “old faces” disillusioned with Haniza’s leadership but now wanted back in.

“At the same time, we pursued young activists and professionals who did not like politics, but showed interest in joining because of our idealism.”

The wing is now in the process of restructuring its 14 state chapters.

“Those who won state positions are allowed to stay but those who were appointed state chiefs were terminated.”

Eight of the 14 state leaders have so far been reappointed, a process undertaken by consultation. 

“I do not believe in veto power,” Fuziah said, adding that she expects the process to be completed by the end of the month.

Fuziah also refuted claims that she is not capable of leading the wing after losing to Haniza in the 2018 party elections.

She said her critics have forgotten that she was once acting and deputy chief when the party was first formed.

Fuziah said she left the post in 2007 to pave the way for new faces.

She also maintained that she brought Zuraida on board, a claim the latter has denied.

“I had no intention of contesting the 2018 party polls but members persuaded me as they felt the party had deviated from its goals.

“We didn’t finish the elections due to allegations of phantom voters. If there was a re-election, I would have won,” she said.

The challenge now is to bring the wing back to its original path and struggle, a task Fuziah said will not be difficult to achieve with true leaders who know the struggle.

“We need a reset button. I want true leaders, not just those who only say ‘yes’,” Fuziah added. – August 5, 2020.