THE war of words which erupted at the Johor PKR convention yesterday (April 5) between the party’s vice-president Datuk Seri R. Ramanan and no-nonsense Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim is not just an ordinary shouting match but one which could reflect ‘irreparable split’ within the core Pakatan Harapan (PH) component party.
The confrontation began mid-way through Ramanan’s speech whereby the Sungai Buluh MP was criticising former deputy president Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli by accusing the latter of attacking the party while questioning the Pandan MP’s performance when he served as the economy minister.
This was when Hassan stood up in the audience and shouted at the former MIC treasurer to remind him that “this is a convention, not an avenue for personal attack” – believed to be in the presence of party president and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“I’m not attacking. It’s OK, YB. This is my floor. This is my floor. Let me speak,” pleaded Ramanan to which Hassan – who himself joined PKR from Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) in November 2009 – rebutted:
“I know (this is) your floor. But this is also the state of Johor! I’m a Johor MP! I don’t agree! Rafizi is not here! Why are you attacking him?”
Ramanan: “No problem that he’s not here. If he is attacking the party, you should defend the party! That is what I’m saying. You should defend the party as the MP of the party! You have to defend the party. The party is our house! The party is our family!
“I might be new to this party compared to you, YB. But I love this party. I love my president! We’ve seen it from the beginning … Everything was given! Mandate given! All I ask is that we support our PM, we support our party, we support our president. Not asking for much!”
Power shift
Looking beyond the heated exchange between Ramanan and Hassan, a political commentator captured the atmosphere in the hall which to him “revealed something bigger”.
“Cheers and applause echoed when Ramanan responded and slammed Hassan Karim. The debate space turned into a stage to show strength,” observed content developer Abdullah Pak Lah MY in a Facebook post.
Reprimands were no longer appreciated as checks and balances but were seen as a nuisance that needed to be defeated.”
In this context, Ramanan was seen as a staunch backer of the party president – representing the current power dynamics.
Hassan Karim, on the other hand, was at the opposite pole – anti-president and staunch supporter of Rafizi Ramli. This clash was not just personal but a symbol of the division of the power spectrum within PKR itself.
This is where the most significant change lies.
To outsiders, what is being displayed today is not just “a hot (scene) but something embarrassing”, according to Abdullah Pak Lah MY.
“It paints a picture of a party that is no longer capable of managing differences maturely but instead displays conflict as a culture,” he lamented.
In party geopolitics, this is an early sign of institutional erosion from within. History has proven many times – that many political movements don’t collapse when weak but collapse when strong because they fail to control internal battles.
PKR today is at that crossroads. The question is not who wins between Ramanan and Hassan Karim. But whether PKR remains a party built on principles and the courage to speak out – or has it turned into a party of power that is starting to self-destruct.
Because in politics, collapse rarely begins with defeat. It begins … with applause.
” – Focus Malaysia
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