KUALA LUMPUR: It seems that PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim may have taken a swipe at his deputy and one-time protégé Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali as tension between the two leaders fuelled over the appointments of the party’s central leadership line-up.
The Port Dickson member of parliament, on New Year’s eve, retweeted a post by one Nicholaslaw, which read: “Where can I get a time machine? Baru satu bulan, takkan dah lupa? (It is only a month and you forgot about it?).
The posting by Nicholaslaw through his Twitter handle @yikyang was also accompanied by an article: “I stand united with Anwar, ready to work with Rafizi – Azmin”, which was published two months ago by NST Online.
Azmin, who is the Economic Affairs Minister, was quoted in the article affirming his support towards Anwar and that he would give the fullest support to the PKR president for “many years ahead”.
In the article, Azmin was also asked if he was agreeable for former Pandan MP, Rafizi Ramli, to be appointed into the PKR Central Leadership Council.
“He (Rafizi) has been in the party for many years. I think I can work with Rafizi to strengthen the party and to prepare for the 15th General Election,” Azmin was quoted in the article.
Coincidently, Rafizi also uploaded a cryptic message on his Twitter account this morning.
“Happy New Year 2019. A new year does not renew us if we are still stuck with the old ways of looking and doing things. May we read more in 2019,” Rafizi said.
Anwar via PKR official Facebook account recently unveiled the PKR Central Leadership Council for the 2018-2021 term, which included the appointment of Rafizi as one of the vice presidents.
The following day, Azmin wrote an open letter and said that the appointment did not reflect the “fair and just representation” principle.
He had also urged Anwar to review the appointments to which the latter declined. Anwar defended the appointments saying it reflect inclusiveness in PKR.
PKR Advisory Council chairman, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, also came into Anwar’s defence and said the appointment is the prerogative of the president.