Zuraida hopes Anwar explains stand on 'PD Move'

PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin (above) has expressed hope that PKR president-elect Anwar Ibrahim will state his stand on whether there was a consensus among party leaders on the engineering of the Port Dickson by-election to see his return to Parliament.

In a statement today, Zuraida said PKR should be transparent and democratic as how Anwar, the party's founder, envisioned it.

"However, the action of some PKR leaders is seen as shallow because they did not use the proper channels to decide on the Port Dickson seat to pave the way for Anwar's return to Parliament," she said.

She said all party decisions should be done through consultation to ensure the support of all party members and that a consensus was achieved.

"My concern is that if the decision was not made in an open, transparent and democratic manner, it will cause confusion among the public and PKR will be seen to be open to manipulation by some groups," she said.

She said all PKR leaders must uphold the reform agenda and hoped that Anwar would state his stand on this matter.

Leaders not present

Earlier today, PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution and vice-president Rafizi Ramli held a press conference to announce that party member Danyal Balagopal Abdullah would be stepping down as the Port Dickson MP.

Saifuddin claimed the matter was discussed during the party's political bureau - it's executive decision-making body – meeting last night.

However, it is understood that Zuraida and many other key party leaders were not present.

Anwar himself was in Hong Kong at the time while deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali was in Vietnam representing the federal government at the World Economic Forum.

This is the third time a by-election is being engineered for Anwar. The first occurred in 2008 when his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail resigned as Permatang Pauh MP.

The second occurred in 2014 when Lim Chin Cheh stepped down as the Kajang assemblyperson. - Mkini