Nurul Izzah’s pick as PKR vice-president a compromise move, says analyst

 

An analyst says the appointments of Nurul Izzah Anwar as a PKR vice-president and Saifuddin Nasution Ismail as secretary-general are aimed at appeasing party members who are split into two factions.

PETALING JAYA: A political analyst has labelled Nurul Izzah Anwar’s appointment as one of PKR vice-presidents a “compromise” to prevent rifts from widening following the party’s recent contentious polls.

Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara believes that this “compromise” was reached between party president Anwar Ibrahim and his newly elected deputy, Rafizi Ramli.

Nurul Izzah is said to be aligned to Rafizi, who defeated Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, a former federal minister said to be in Anwar’s camp.

Saifuddin was reappointed as the party’s secretary-general.

Azmi said he believes the appointments of Nurul Izzah and Saifuddin were aimed at appeasing party members who were split into two factions.

“There’s no doubt that after the polls, the party was split into two camps, led by Anwar and Rafizi.

“I believe that Rafizi had pushed for Izzah to be appointed (as vice-president) as a compromise to retain Saifuddin as the secretary-general,” he told FMT.

Nurul Izzah stepped down as vice-president in December 2018, with Anwar attributing his daughter’s decision to her disgruntlement with individuals who were constantly politicking.

Azmi said Rafizi’s win, however, inspired her to return to active politics.

“She is now part of Rafizi’s camp, while her father is the president. With Rafizi the deputy president and not Azmin Ali, this likely inspired her,” he said.

Azmin, the former PKR deputy president, was sacked after the role he played in the Sheraton Move which led to the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government. - FMT