Anwar Ibrahim has described the grassroots leaders who left the party yesterday as small-fry, accusing the Umno-controlled media of giving them too much prominence. The PKR de facto leader also reiterated that senior leaders were fully aware of Hulu Selangor division treasurer and potential by-election candidate Datuk Dr Halili Rahmat’s plan to leave the party.
“I was told we made the right choice, we chose the right person to contest,” said Anwar in his first public comments about the walk-outs when speaking at a Hulu Selangor by-election ceramah in Bukit Sentosa here. Former Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim is representing PKR in a straight fight with Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate P. Kamalanathan in the April 25 by-election.
“If we had chosen him (Dr Halili), can you imagine if he declares he has lost confidence in the party leadership while we are campaigning,” Anwar told hundreds of people who attended the ceramah.
The opposition leader also claimed that his party would not be affected by the defections of the former PKR leaders from Perak. Yesterday Perak PKR Wanita election chief Soraya Sulaiman and her deputy Roshanita Mohd Basir left the party to join Umno. Roshanita’s husband Saghazali Abd Kadir also announced that he was also leaving the party for Umno.
Dr.Halili who was short listed as one of the potential PKR candidates for the Hulu Selangor by-election, defected to Umno on Monday, two days after nomination day for the parliamentary seat.
“This was not the first time, I always ask who are they? Sometimes you hear youth leaders quitting, some women figures leaving, all of them are treated like national leaders,” said Anwar.
“We only have 4,000 members here, but I heard 8,000 have left,” he quipped.
A day before the campaign started last weekend, Bakar Arang assemblyman Tan Wei Shu’s resigned from PKR to become an Independent state law maker. Tan was formerly a Kedah executive councillor and was dropped from the state Cabinet last month.
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