The PKR dilemma: PM-in-waiting or DPM as president

PKR is now faced with a dilemma on whether its prime minister-in-waiting, Anwar Ibrahim, or the current deputy prime minister, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, should be the party's president in the upcoming PKR polls.

While Anwar's position as top dog in PKR is without question, for the past decade he has had to occupy the largely ceremonial post of de facto leader.

Previous attempts for Anwar to take over the party presidency from his wife had been derailed by legal obstacles stemming from the Sodomy II trial.

After his royal pardon, however, the path is now clear for him to move up and assume the presidency, on the way to him becoming prime minister.  

Wan Azizah herself has said that she will make way for her husband if he decides to contest as president.

Not clear-cut

For PKR members, however, the choice is not a clear-cut as it seems.

Despite Wan Azizah's insistence that there are no splits in the party over her or Anwar, there are those from within the party that want her to remain as president.

PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail explained that this faction believes that Wan Azizah should be given the honours of serving one last term as president.

"PKR has become the biggest bloc in the Pakatan Harapan government, which contributes to her record and shows that she (should remain) as party president.

"There are internal views that if Wan Azizah wants to continue getting that respect, she should be given the presidency.

“After all, she only has one term left to serve," Saifuddin told Malaysiakini during an interview on Friday.

Similarly, PKR vice-president Tian Chua said Wan Azizah should also be accorded more respect.

"We can't just treat Wan Azizah as a temporary replacement whenever Anwar is not available. So it depends on what she decides," Chua said when contacted.

Nevertheless, Saifuddin said others in the party argue that Wan Azizah has accomplished her mission as president, and that it was time to hand over the reins to Anwar.

DPM post affected?

Anwar becoming president raises the question as to how it will impact on Wan Azizah's position as deputy prime minister.

In western democracies, government leaders usually step down after they lose their party positions.

But political analyst Faisal Hazis said this should not be a problem for Wan Azizah.

"I don't think Wan Azizah not having a party post poses a problem to her position in the cabinet.

"She was there to represent PKR prior to Anwar's release," the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia-based pundit told Malaysiakini.

Faisal added that there should not be any pressure on Wan Azizah to step down as deputy prime minister until the planned transition from Dr Mahathir Mohamad to Anwar as prime minister takes place.

At present, no timeline has been established for the transition, nor any indication that it will happen anytime soon.

Anwar has repeatedly stressed that he is in no rush to join the government, and called on PKR to fully support Mahathir as prime minister.

As for the question of PKR deputy president Azmin Ali making a bid for the presidency, Saifuddin said this was unlikely to happen as long as Anwar or Wan Azizah is around.

The PKR party elections are expected to start at the end of August. All party members are allowed to vote in the party polls.

According to Saifuddin, PKR now has over 800,000 members, after it received over 300,000 fresh applications following the May 9 general election.

Anwar has tried to contest the PKR presidency on two previous occasions.

He pulled out of the race in 2007, after the Registrar of Societies threatened to ban PKR as a result of him still serving a five-year ban from politics following his 2004 release from jail. 

This was the same year the PKR congress passed a motion to make him the de factoleader. 

He similarly aborted his plan to contest in 2014, after the Court of Appeal found him guilty in his second sodomy trial. -Mkini