SHAH ALAM: PKR deputy president Azmin Ali today hinted that the party leadership may have committed mistakes in the handling of its party election and the protracted Selangor leadership crisis.
Azmin said he admitted that the party needed to come up with measures to improve its recently concluded election, which was marred by incidents of violence and allegations of irregularities.
He said this during a keynote address when officiating PKR Youth’s annual general assembly at Wisma Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam here this morning.
Azmin, who successfully retained the deputy presidency yesterday after beating Datuk Saifuddin Nasution, urged PKR Youth members to continue working with their counterparts in Pas and DAP.
It is understood that relations between Pakatan member parties were strained following differing views on who should be the Selangor menteri besar.
“Mistakes have been made, but we should take it as experience in order for us to make the right decisions when dealing with other crises in the future,” Azmin said, drawing applause from the floor.
In an apparent jibe at embattled Selangor MB Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, Azmin said leaders in PKR should act in line with the party’s decisions.
“Leaders have to accept party decisions. Even leaders need to be loyal to the party, and not just its members,” he said.
Khalid was sacked from PKR on Aug 9 for failing to toe party lines and for refusing to step down as Selangor MB despite orders to do so by PKR’s top hierarchy.
During a press conference later, when asked if his speech referred to the ongoing Selangor leadership crisis, Azmin said: “Not necessarily. What I’m saying is that every crisis can be an opportunity for PKR to become stronger.
“The thing is, most of us look at crises as a weakness. But we should look at them from a positive point of view in order to move forward.”
On another matter, Azmin said he had held a brief discussion with Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang on the impending Pengkalan Kubur by-election.
“I have also talked to the PKR Kelantan chairman regarding the matter. We will discuss the by-election details at length next week,” he said.
The Pengkalan Kubur state seat was contested by PKR in the 2008 and 2013 general elections. A by-election is expected to be called soon following the death of its Umno assemblyman Datuk Noor Zahidi Omar.