Rifts widen in PKR as love and hate collide over Dr M
(Malay Mail Online) – Two distinct camps have emerged within the top echelon of PKR as the party allies with their leader’s old nemesis Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in a “Save Malaysia” campaign to oust Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak from office.
With their charismatic captain Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim behind bars and his wife as proxy chief, sources within the federal opposition party said there is now a tug-of-war for the baton between deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali and vice-president/secretary-general Rafizi Ramli.
“Both the leaders are fighting over Tun Mahathir’s support. They don’t see eye to eye in the party,” one source told Malay Mail Online this week, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Rafizi wants Mahathir to appear at the Pakatan event on March 28 in Ampang. But some other parties are not agreeable to this,” another source said, also on condition he not be named.
According to several other party insiders, while the two senior office-bearers blame Dr Mahathir for Malaysia’s decline, they also believe the 90-year-old former prime minister still wields enough influence to dictate the country’s next leader.
As such, each is trying to persuade Dr Mahathir to show up for his respective event in the next two weeks under the “Save Malaysia” banner, which will provide an unspoken endorsement of his personal leadership prowess.
Rafizi’s event is ostensibly a Pakatan Harapan rally scheduled for March 28 while Azmin has proposed a nationwide roadshow called “Jelajah Selamatkan Malaysia”, set for a kickoff from his Gombak parliamentary constituency on April 3.
A source close to Dr Mahathir confirmed with Malay Mail Online that the country’s fourth prime minister and its longest-serving will not attend the March 28 Pakatan Harapan rally.
“He will not be at that. Tun doesn’t want to be seen on a political platform. His aim is to save Malaysia,” said the source who asked not to be named.
The same source added however that Dr Mahathir “might” attend the Azmin-organised roadshow on April 3.
“We have not got any official invite yet on that. But we will see, he might go.”
Dr Mahathir also has confirmed he will be the keynote speaker at a closed-door gathering this Sunday organised by non-aligned politician Datuk Zaid Ibrahim as it was a non-partisan platform calling for Najib’s resignation, the source added.
A third PKR source told Malay Mail Online that the feud between Azmin and Rafizi has been simmering for some time, but their rivalry has flared now with the close involvement of Dr Mahathir in the “Save Malaysia” campaign.
Rafizi has declined comment on the matter when contacted by Malay Mail Online.
“I have no comment, I am currently busy focusing my efforts in building the moment in Malaysians to get the resignation of Najib,” he said when contacted.
Malay Mail Online has not been able to reach Azmin for comments on the alleged rifts within PKR.
