PKR members will choose wisely for the party’s future

MP SPEAKS | Starting from tomorrow, tens of thousands of PKR
members will flock to designated polling stations to vote in the party leadership for the term 2018-2021.

The polling process will continue until Nov 4. The winners will then take their oath in November, at the party convention.

There are 12 candidates vying for four vice-president posts and 88 candidates contesting 20 supreme council slots. At the division level, more than 8,000 members will be contesting various division positions.

This, by any measure, will be the biggest party election of all political parties in the country. It is also the biggest party democracy exercise ever.

Of course, the most headline-grabbing contest is the fight between Azmin Ali and Rafizi Ramli for the deputy presidency.

The poll's winners will helm PKR in what will arguably be the most important phase of the party's growth since its foundation in April 1999.

First of all, PKR is now the party of significantly increased political clout in Malaysia.

How so?

This is so because the elected leaders will manage a party with 50 MPs, 70 state assemblypersons and more than 840,000
members.

Today PKR has actively functioning divisions and members in every state and parliamentary constituency.

Secondly, PKR is now a vital component of the ruling government: The outgoing party president is the deputy prime minister. Also, PKR has seven ministers and an equal number of deputy ministers.

Third and most importantly, PKR's president-elect Anwar Ibrahim is on course to become the next prime minister.

The transition from Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to Anwar will be crucial for the ruling coalition, Pakatan Harapan's future and for political stability in the country.

Thus the significance of PKR's current election process and its outcome cannot be understated.

This near-one million members of the party know and that knowledge will see them exercise their wisdom in electing their office bearers.

The media publicity on the polls has inevitably revolved around the existence and rivalry between the camps contesting for posts.

But what seems the appearance on the surface may not be the reality in the depths.

Seasoned PKR members know which leaders are tried, tested and true, and which are just hopping on a bandwagon.

They know who has endured the reformasi struggles of yesteryear and who are just opportunists.

Given the significance of the party election, PKR members have no choice but to vote the best and nothing but the best. This is to ensure the survival of the party.

The best candidates are true blue PKR types who can rise above factionalism and personality-fixation.

Their vision will not waver from its focus on the big picture of achieving the goal of wide-ranging political and economic reform of the Malaysian polity.

This goal is to reform our institutions, bring economic justice and unite Malaysia’s multiracial society.

In reality, most party leaders accept differences of opinion within the party.

Therefore, they accept there will be a plurality of voices in the party within an overall framework of a single vision for the nation.

As a moderate and multiracial party, PKR is always seen as the party for the future of Malaysia.

In GE14, the party carried the hopes of the majority of the voters who serenely accept that Malaysia is multiracial and moderate.

Thus the future the party long envisioned has finally arrived. PKR is on course to reform the country and unite its multiracial society.

Now the members will choose the leadership that will unite the party and fulfil the reform agenda.

The rakyat expects no less from the party. Knowing this its members must elect the leadership that will satisfy the people's expectations.

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SIM TZE TZIN is Bayan Baru MP and deputy minister of Agriculture, from PKR. He will vote wisely in the party election. - Mkini