Azmin, Rafizi hug it out upon PKR delegate's urging

PKR AGM | In the wake of an intense race between Mohamed Azmin Ali and Rafizi Ramli for the PKR deputy presidency, a PKR delegate successfully persuaded both contenders to share a brief hug on stage at the party congress today.

In his speech at the 13th PKR national congress, Perlis PKR delegate Tengku Nazeri Tengku Aldin called upon Azmin and Rafizi to stop their rivalry for the sake of party unity and their children.

"I urge Team Rafizi and Team Azmin, the time has come to stop this now," he said at the Ideal Convention Centre (IDCC) in Shah Alam.

This was greeted with thunderous applause from the crowd, who also gave Tengku Nazeri a standing ovation.

As the crowd was still applauding the Perlis delegate, Rafizi and Azmin were seen shaking each other's hands and raising their hands in the air, before hugging each other briefly on stage.

The crowd cheered even louder after witnessing the exchange between the two PKR leaders.

When met later, Rafizi admitted there were differences between him and Azmin.

"I felt that the conflict (between me and Azmin) referred by the media, was as serious as the understanding of others," he said.

He said that the multiracial membership has led to a merrier and noisier PKR, which ultimately turned into its strength.

"I do not think we can attempt to eliminate the differences (between party members)... But it is our culture to allow differences in the party, we celebrate differences," he said.

This made PKR different than PAS and Umno which fell apart when there were differences, he added. 

The contest between Azmin and Rafizi for the position of PKR deputy president had been marred by scuffles and accusations of rigging and money politics.

However, Rafizi conceded defeat to Azmin yesterday, saying that he did so for the greater good of the party despite having reasons to appeal.

He also pointed out multiple times that Azmin's winning margin was only two percent.

This means, he said, that the many irregularities he had raised in the past - such as unfair handling of the elections, missing votes, "data wiping" in Julau and the disruption of Internet connections, among others - were reasons to hold a fresh election, though he did not pursue it.

-Mkini