Eight central leadership council members of PKR’s student wing, Mahasiswa Keadilan Malaysia (MKM), announced that they have quit the party, citing a loss of confidence in party president Anwar Ibrahim in his capacity as prime minister.
Its chairperson, Ram Erfan Zur Nuqman, confirmed the matter during a press conference in Petaling Jaya last night.
“We reject the culture of blindly defending the party while the principles of the struggle are increasingly being abandoned.
“Accordingly, eight members of the MKM central leadership council are announcing their resignation from the party today,” he said.
Besides Ram, those who also announced their departure were deputy chairperson R Paarveen, vice-chairperson II Ismail Hakim, executive secretary Zuhair Hazman Zohari, executive secretary II Khairunnabiha Baharin, treasurer Emy Azariena, information chief Luqman Hakim Kamal, and arts, culture and sports bureau chief Danish Fitri Razi.
Meanwhile, vice-chairperson III Saw Zi Xuan resigned from the MKM central leadership council but remains in the party.
In accordance with Clause 13.3 of the MKM constitution, when more than one-third of the central leadership council members resign, the PKR student wing leadership is automatically dissolved.
“With that, the MKM central leadership council is officially dissolved. A new election must be held through a special general meeting of MKM,” Ram added.
PKR fails to answer
Elaborating, Ram said PKR today is no longer the reformist party once trusted by the youth.
He listed six issues as reasons behind the loss of confidence in Anwar’s leadership.
“The party that once championed the fight against abuse of power, transparency, and institutional freedom now appears to be moving further away from those principles.
“Some may say these are random attacks. What are the specific issues you are raising that make you feel you can no longer function within this government structure?
“So we are stating the government’s failures openly. My members and I feel these are among the red lines that mean we can no longer criticise the government while trying to preserve and reform it,” he said.
Among the alleged failures cited were issues involving an alleged “corporate mafia”, allegations that a PKR MP received RM9.5 million from a businessperson, the shareholding controversy involving the outgoing MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki, pressure against critics of the government, failures in media freedom, and disputes in the party election.
“From the beginning, PKR and Anwar failed to answer the issues raised here.
“We imagine these problems will continue if there is no movement pushing the PKR leadership to do something.
“So based on these six reasons, we declare our loss of confidence in Anwar,” he added.
Two members made U-turns
Ram also rejected claims that MKM’s earlier statement against Anwar on May 10 had never been discussed and was not a majority decision of the PKR wing’s central leadership council.
“I would like to inform you that the total number of elected MKM central council members is 15. Initially, eight central council members agreed to resign. Therefore, it was a majority decision.
“However, after the statement was issued, one of them withdrew the resignation decision. Imagine, he agreed until 7.55pm to resign. The statement came out at 8pm.
“In less than an hour, he withdrew the earlier decision. We are not sure what kind of pressure the member faced that caused him to retract his resignation,” he said.
MKM issued a statement to Malaysiakini saying that after evaluating the party’s direction, they believed PKR had strayed from its original reform spirit.
However, less than an hour later, the wing’s secretary-general Aqeef Salih came forward to deny it.
“That statement was never discussed, agreed upon or decided through official MKM channels. It was merely the action of a few individuals within the central leadership who had their own agenda and took advantage of the MKM platform to create confusion and negative perceptions towards the organisation.
“More embarrassingly, the statement did not include the names and positions of the individuals responsible for issuing it. This clearly shows it was done unprofessionally, irresponsibly, and with bad intentions.
“Anyone who is truly brave enough to stand by their own position should come forward openly instead of hiding behind the name of a student organisation,” Aqeef said in the aforementioned statement.
However, Ram said the secretary-general’s position contradicted his earlier stance.
“Although he did not say he would resign, I have evidence of messages from Aqeef clearly stating that PKR is no longer the same party as before (a reform party).
“However, he also made a U-turn for reasons we are unsure of,” he said.
‘Not manipulated’
Ram further stressed that their decision was “not manipulated by any party”.
“We want to stress that as young people, we will not support any political leader or party.
“However, the struggle to educate the rakyat will not die with the party. All former MKM members are invited to remain steadfast in building political awareness and literacy among youth through independent platforms not tied to any political party.
“We will continue going to campuses throughout Malaysia to help students think, evaluate, and make mature, principled political choices.
“Finally, we urge all youth, especially students, to reassess their positions in this party. Ask yourselves: Is this party still truly carrying the banner of reform? Or is reform today merely a slogan to gain power?
“Young people are not tools of political propaganda. Young people have dignity, principles, and the courage to speak the truth even when it is bitter,” he said.
Malaysiakini has contacted Aqeef for further comment.
Losing directions
In a related development, former MKM chairperson from March 2024 to September 2025, Yuveraaj Pillai, who was also present at the press conference, announced his exit from the party.
“As the deputy youth chief of the Batu PKR division and a member of the Federal Territories PKR Youth leadership, together with around 50 PKR Youth members comprising young professionals from the fields of law, psychology, economics and various academic backgrounds, we have decided to leave PKR,” he said.
According to him, PKR, which once stood as a reformist party and the people’s hope, now appears to have lost its direction and failed to uphold the principles once promised to Malaysians.
PKR established MKM in 2012 to represent the voices of students from public and private universities.
Since its formation, MKM has consistently championed issues related to student welfare, academic freedom, and social justice.
MKM was also previously known for its outspoken stance against government policies seen as restricting freedom of speech on campuses.
Several demonstrations and awareness campaigns had also been organised nationwide in support of the reform agenda. - Mkini
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