Some obscure faces made PKR state chiefs

There were some surprises in the appointment of state PKR chiefs by party president Anwar Ibrahim.

This is an important position because the appointees are expected to set policies and negotiate with their Pakatan Harapan counterparts at the state level.

According to the party constitution, the president has to appoint the state PKR chief after consulting all the PKR division leaders in the state.

Unlike the position of state PKR chief, the PKR division leadership is elected by the grassroots.

Last week, Anwar was crisscrossing the country and holding meetings with these PKR division leaders. The new appointees were then named in batches.

It is also believed that most meetings involved PKR division leaders participating in a secret ballot to choose the state PKR leader.

However, since Anwar was the only one with access to the ballots, the results will probably never be known, nor was he obliged to accept the results of the vote anyway, according to party rules.

Now that the appointments have been finalised, Malaysiakini's observations are as follows.

There were five state PKR chiefs who were reappointed - Azan Ismail (Terengganu), Hassan Karim (Johor), Christina Liew (Sabah), Aminuddin Harun (Negeri Sembilan) and Baru Bian (Sarawak).

Save for Azan, all are currently lawmakers with Aminuddin, Liew and Baru holding executive positions. Azan has been an MP, Terengganu lawmaker and Terengganu PKR chief (2011-2014) before.

Aminuddin's appointment was expected by virtue of him being chief executive of Negeri Sembilan, as was the appointment of Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari.

Religious Affairs Deputy Minister Fuziah Salleh's appointment as Pahang PKR chief was no surprise either, by virtue of her being the only state PKR lawmaker with an executive position.

Fuziah and Liew are the only two women on the list.

New faces

In Perlis, Anwar went with Padang Besar division chief Amran Kamarudin. He is a banker by profession and has been with PKR since 1999.

In Kedah, Sungai Petani MP and Gurun assemblyperson Johari Abdul was appointed the state leader.

Although Johari is a PKR veteran, his appointment was unusual because he failed to be elected as a PKR division leader during the recent party elections.

In Kelantan, PKR newbie Mohamad Suparadi Md Noor was made PKR state leader. Suparadi was appointed as the head of Tekun Nasional, the federal government's microfinancing scheme, by Entrepreneur Development Minister Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof on Oct 1.

He started his career with Bank Bumiputera Bhd before becoming a corporate man and chairperson of the National Sports Complex. He was formerly an Umno member and was once the party's Kelantan information chief.

What made Mohamad Suparadi's appointment peculiar was that he joined PKR less than a year ago and was given a waiver by former PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to contest in the election for the Tanah Merah PKR division leadership, which he won.

In Anwar's home state of Penang, he appointed his daughter Nurul Izzah as the state leader. Nurul Izzah is also the PKR vice-president who was elected with the highest number of votes.

In Perak, Anwar's political secretary Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak was appointed the state PKR leader. Farhash boasts an impressive professional resume. He has a master's degree in finance and is a successful technopreneur.

However, what made his appointment atypical was the fact that he lacked political achievements and that he was chosen over many senior party members who are either MPs or state lawmakers.

It is also interesting to note that Farhash, at 36, is the youngest state PKR leader at present.

In the Federal Territories, Zahir Hassan was made the territories’ PKR leader. Although he was never elected to public office, he is a Reformasi veteran and former PKR deputy secretary-general.

Lastly, in Malacca, Halim Bachik was made the state PKR leader. Halim has been with the party for a while and was a PKR candidate for the 2013 and 2018general elections. Both attempts to secure a state seat in Malacca were unsuccessful.

Zahid and Halim, like Farhash, were chosen to lead PKR in their respective states over more established leaders and those who were elected to public office.

Now that Anwar has completed the appointment process for state PKR leaders, the next batch of appointments he is expected to make are for the party's central leadership council and the all-important secretary-general post. - Mkini