PKR deputy president Azmin Ali’s name was left out of the party’s list for ministers for practical reasons, said secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

He said Azmin’s absence from the list was due to the fact that he was already sworn in as the Selangor menteri besar.

Saifuddin denied there was a fallout between Azmin and party leaders.

“When we were in a position to choose the best in our party leadership and we had Azmin as MB, we didn’t include him because he was already sworn in.

“Therefore, it’s not fair to say that we didn’t put him because of some fallout because he was part of the leadership,” said Saifuddin, who is now the domestic trade and consumer minister.

Saifuddin, who was involved in preparing the list for submission to Dr Mahathir Mohamad, said the party agreed that the prerogative of appointing ministers and deciding the portfolios was the prime minister’s alone.

“At that time, Azmin was the Selangor MB and obviously, he was not included. There is nothing wrong or suspicious about it.

“He led the richest state in Malaysia and performed well after taking over from Khalid Ibrahim that had many controversial issues. He also created stability and is an extremely good administrator,” the Kulim Bandar Baharu MP told The Malaysian Insight at his office yesterday.

Azmin, despite being left out of the list of 10 names given to Dr Mahathir, was appointed the economic affairs minister last month.

The former Selangor MB had several disagreements with the party leadership beginning with the naming of candidates for the 14^th general election.

The party, led by Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, dropped as many as eight names proposed by Azmin in April. The party also disagreed on who should replace Azmin as Selangor MB recently.

Dr Mahathir also appointed ministers whose names were not nominated by their parties, such as DAP and Amanah. 

Anwar the pacifier 

Admitting that there were some discontent within the party initially after the Azmin debacle, Saifuddin said, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim did a good job of appeasing other party leaders.

He said it began at the PKR gathering at One World hotel last month.

During the meeting with MPs and assemblymen, Anwar gave clear instructions for everyone to support Dr Mahathir, said Saifuddin.

“He told them that victory is not about the seats won or the positions given after the elections. The meaning of victory is the party’s ability to translate the mandate and power given to realise the reform agenda. 

“Anwar said those picked may not be the best in the party and everyone needed to have a sense of humility. He told them that they were just ‘fortunate to be picked’,” said the minister.

Anwar’s advice managed to pacify everyone and steer them back to the important issues, he said. – July 13, 2018.