PKR has emerged intact from yet another rowdy party congress intact, but only just.
In the thick of it was vice-president Chua Tian Chang.
The de facto mediator between the party’s two warring camps, he was the sole leader from Azmin Ali’s faction on stage, on the last day of the congress after the rest walked out.
Despite praise from party president Anwar Ibrahim for his attendance, Tian Chua, as he is better known, said he was not spared from a hostile reception from the delegates.
Reflecting on the meet in an interview with Malaysiakini this week, Tian Chua admitted that the party was split down the middle.
He also acknowledged that PKR, as a ruling party, had a duty to overcome its internal bickerings. Moving forward, he said the two camps needed to find a way to accept and work with each other.
“Mending the differences means that we (need to) develop a professional working relationship with one another. We don’t have to love each other...
“And it will be also (be about) recognising that the party will have different factions and let’s live with it, you know,” he prescribed when met at his office at the Malaysia Productivity Corporation in Petaling Jaya.
“Any unity must come from the frankness of accommodating differences. Gone are those days, of the old fascistic unity (where) everyone presents a united front to save the country,” he added.
During the congress, delegates had demanded for the "traitors" - a veiled reference to Azmin’s supporters - to be kicked out of the party.
Tian Chua warned against allowing such intolerance towards differences coupled with a blind allegiance to leaders to turn PKR into an iteration of former ruling party Umno.
No intention for a new party
The Malacca congress had marked a breakdown of the peace accords that were attained between the two camps prior to the meet.
After the walkout, Tian Chua, along with other leaders aligned with Azmin, held a press conference blaming Anwar for violating their ceasefire agreement.
Most members of this faction skipped the last day of the congress and held a separate dinner in Kuala Lumpur.
Asked about concerns over the state of affairs within the party, Tian Chua assured that the infighting was constrained by party “parameters”, which he explained allowed members to air their differences while remaining committed to the reform agenda.
He also denied speculation that Azmin and his allies were planning to leave PKR to start a new party.
“I categorically say that there is no such intention to have a separate party and there is no possibility of it,” he stressed when pressed.
Azmin previously denied this speculation as well.
The relationship between the party’s top two leaders may have seen better days, but Tian Chua said he had hope in Anwar’s ability to hold the party together.
“I don’t think the fight is beyond reconciliation...
“Azmin cannot operate alone without the party. Similarly, Anwar cannot operate without, not (just) Azmin but there are a lot of senior leaders and a lot of central committee members...
“I believe that he (Anwar) has the ability to unite and I believe he also understands the necessity of a united PKR,” he said.
Rift due to Azmin’s challengers
But how did the rift between Anwar and Azmin start?
PKR began 20 years ago as a response to Anwar’s sacking from his deputy prime ministership and subsequent Sodomy I ordeal. Azmin, who was his aide at the time, stuck by his boss and became one of the founding members of the party.
A PKR founding member himself, Tian Chua analysed that the present split was primarily due to the many challenges to Azmin’s deputy president position over the past nine years.
“To say that the whole party’s problem is between Azmin and Anwar, I think that is overly simplistic and this is not totally accurate.
“It is also not easy to be number two for such a long time. There are always new challenges, there are always people who feel that they are more qualified.
“So the tension is, to me, more like (due to) the challengers of Azmin, rather than with Anwar,” he said.
In explaining this, Tian Chua pointed to Khalid Ibrahim, Zaid Ibrahim, Mohamad Ezam Mohd Noor and Chandra Muzaffar.
“Right now (it) is the same, it was a very intense competition (for) the seat of deputy president and I personally think we could have avoided it if everyone (was) just be a bit more patient,” he added, referring to last year’s party election.
Rafizi Ramli had unsuccessfully challenged Azmin for the role and was later co-opted as one of the party’s vice-presidents.
Tian Chua pointed to another factor - how Anwar had barely been physically at the helm of PKR despite being synonymous with the party.
Anwar’s long periods of incarceration for Sodomy I and II had created a leadership vacuum, leading to the rise of many strong leaders who only knew the reformasi icon by name.
Tian Chua cited himself as an example.
“(With) many of the leaders, he has no personal interaction with (them), you see.
“Even for me myself, I hardly know Anwar... the day that I knew him, he was already in prison. We communicated through writings. For a brief period, he was leading PKR, but then, again he went in (to jail).
“Maybe he also does not know many of the leaders that have evolved and developed in his absence (and) this partly contributed to some of the tension,” he analysed. - Mkini
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