PKR courts veterans as it seeks to strengthen footing ahead of GE16
PETALING JAYA: PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s appeal for the party’s estranged otai-otai (old guard) to return to the party could strengthen it ahead of the next general election.
Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research senior fellow Dr Azmi Hassan said the return of veteran figures such as former PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang, better known as Tian Chua, and Datuk Dr Xavier Jayakumar could bolster the party.
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“I think old guard like Tian Chua and Xavier Jayakumar would be good for PKR and could strengthen the party.
“Both of them did not really criticise PKR directly unlike perhaps Rafizi (former PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli) or Nik Nazmi (Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad). I think these are very different categories,” he told theSun.
Azmi said the veterans belong to a different category from Rafizi, Nik Nazmi and former PKR leader Wong Chen whose departures have been more closely associated with differences with the party’s current direction.
“When we talk about the old guard, it is similar to the return of Tan Sri Noh Omar or Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed to Umno, for example. I think this is in line with the connotation of ‘old guard’.
“I think their return will strengthen PKR just as the return of old guard to Umno will no doubt strengthen Umno,” he said.
Azmi was commenting on Anwar’s speech at the PKR annual congress in Malacca on Sunday, when he apologised to former party leaders and activists who may have felt marginalised and urged them to return to the party’s struggle.
Anwar called on the party’s otai-otai or veterans to return while acknowledging that some former colleagues might have felt sidelined.
“If there were any mistakes on our part, I apologise. Come back to the path of our struggle,” the Prime Minister said.
Anwar did not name any former leader, but his appeal came as PKR grapples with a series of departures and the emergence of new political formations ahead of the 16th general election (GE16).
Tian Chua was expelled from PKR after contesting the Batu parliamentary seat as an independent candidate in the 2022 general election while Xavier left the party in 2021 after supporting the administration of then-prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Tian Chua has also said he was ready to return to PKR but stressed that the decision ultimately rests with Anwar who would have to restore his party membership.
Rafizi, meanwhile, said Anwar’s appeal was unlikely to have been directed at him or Nik Nazmi, saying he believed that the PKR president was referring instead to veterans and some former leaders who had previously been aligned with former deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.
“Not us,” Rafizi reportedly said after a Bersama event on Sunday when asked whether Anwar’s appeal was directed at him and Nik Nazmi.
Azmi also said figures such as Rafizi, Nik Nazmi and Wong Chen are unlikely to fall into the same category as the veterans Anwar appeared to be courting.
The appeal to the old guard comes as PKR seeks to reinforce its reformist credentials ahead of GE16, amid questions over whether its participation in the Unity government has weakened its appeal among traditional supporters.
