Kuala Lumpur: The PKR central committee has decided against any possible collaboration with former deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali who defected in 2020, Fahmi Fadzil said today.
The PKR communications director said this was because Azmin continued to be seen both within and outside the party as one of the prime movers behind the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government that same year.
“The central committee further decided that PKR will not discuss or cooperate with Azmin Ali, whom members, supporters and even the public consider one of the main causes of the ‘Sheraton Move’ treachery,” he said in a statement.
The “Sheraton Move” is so called due to the gathering of lawmakers at the Sheraton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur just before the PH administration collapsed in February 2020.
At the time, Azmin led his faction of lawmakers and supporters — dubbed the “Cartel” — out of PKR to throw their support behind Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), which abandoned PH to partner with the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and seize control of the federal government.
Since then, Bersatu has fallen out with BN, leading to a rumoured exodus of the former “Cartel” members that was prompted by the departure of Datuk Seri Zuraida Kamaruddin, an Azmin loyalist, for the fledgling Parti Bangsa Malaysia.
Last week, Azmin allegedly met with two PKR operators, fuelling talk that he was planning on a comeback to the party.
Today, Fahmi said the PKR leadership also discussed the party’s recent internal elections and the coming annual congress.
“Once the complaint and audit process is completed, the election committee (JPP) will soon announce branch new leaderships as well as PKR main leadership,” the Lembah Pantai MP said.
The JPP determined that the Women and Youth Congress will be held on July 15, while the National Congress will run from July 16 and 17.
The events will take place at the IDEAL Convention Centre (IDCC) Shah Alam.
The PKR election committee had received over 200 complaints regarding rule violations during the party’s polls this year as of last month.
