PKR Women’s chief: Fresh faces, new approach in coming GE

 

INTERVIEW | It wasn’t that long ago that Fadhlina Sidek was best known as a women’s rights activist fighting from within the syariah court system. However, in the last two years, she has made a dramatic transition to full-blown political activity.

This culminated in her appointment to the Dewan Negara on Sept 1, 2021, and her recent election as head of PKR’s Women’s wing.

When met at her office in Shah Alam, Selangor, Fadhlina, 45, was determined to ensure that her party, which popularised the slogan “Reformasi” (reformation), continues to evolve.

As she told Malaysiakini in an exclusive interview, this means voters can expect to see the party fielding many new faces when the next general election comes around.

“It’s been quite a busy time for me. Yes, I won the party election for Women’s chief, but it was close and I only won after a recount (the initial count indicated a victory for Batu Tiga assemblyperson Rodziah Ismail).

“It was totally a new experience for me and party members too. We were witnessing a new methodology of online voting and after a lot of hiccups finally, they announced that I won with a slim majority.

“During the election, I learnt a lot, especially with the activist background that I came from entering politics. This is totally a new horizon,” she said.

Fadhlina is under no illusion that after the trauma of the Sheraton Move betrayal and defections, PKR has to rebuild and do it quickly too.

“I have to do what I have to do. Firstly, we have to settle the organisational part within the party and we also have to act after the poor results in the state elections that came after the Sheraton Move.

“There is some proactive action that we can take and we are doing a lot of rallies now.

“The party has also changed the way we do our rallies. Before, it was in very urban areas but now we are visiting housing areas in smaller neighbourhoods in areas such as Taman Medan (Selangor), Batu Kawan (Penang), and Nibong Tebal (Penang).

“This exposes our message and ideas to different demographics,” she said.

Fadhlina added that a programme themed ‘Care, Concern and Gender Mainstreaming’ managed to bring women together.

“The women’s wing is focused more on women’s issues. That of poverty, their role in the community and citizenship. The issue of floods will also be very important. If they proceed with the elections, it’s going to affect women who run households.

“Also, the party is carrying out town hall meetings to strengthen its election machinery at central and state levels, as well as its divisions and grassroots for the upcoming 15th general election,” she said.

The newly elected PKR Youth president Adam Adli Abd Halim also just announced that his division will be holding a fundraiser to prepare ‘flood kits’ for the nearing monsoon floods, which are expected to start from the middle of next month to March 2023.

Important to revamp image

Fadhlina said the new image of the party’s leadership is very important too.

“The mood among supporters was quite euphoric when Rafizi (Ramli) took his place as deputy president. And his team of vice presidents too – Nurul Izzah Anwar and Saraswathy Kandasamy - are very young.

“The image of the leadership is very important as the party seeks to regain the trust of the voters,” she said.

“What we need now is firstly to say sorry to them (the voters) because of the betrayal. We had the chance to be in Putrajaya and hopefully have learnt our lesson. We owe an apology to the rakyat. We need to be humble as we appeal for their support after the betrayal.

“We also need to have more effective and realistic policies because there are also promises that we failed to fulfil during our time in the federal government. The hardest part is to gain back the trust and momentum.

“We have this concern but we know we can only achieve through hard work,” Fadhlina added.

She says the party has had to find its own way to deal with those associated with the defectors.

“Of course, there are the defectors themselves who jumped ship and will likely be contesting seats they won under PKR. That’s quite clear, we will run against them and as (party president) Anwar Ibrahim said, the party is choosing big guns to go against them.

“Next will be those who are associated with traitors. Now, in many cases, they were seen as close to the defectors but they did not defect and they stayed and are among those who work very hard for the party. It is unfair to say they should be dropped or otherwise punished,” she said.

Among those who are still in PKR include Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari who is seen as a protégé of leading defector Azmin Ali. Reformasi hero Tian Chua and Sangeeta Jayakumar, the daughter of defecting MP Dr Xavier Jayakumar are others who are also tainted by association.

Fadhlina herself is currently serving a three-year term in the Dewan Negara, representing Penang. Her term expires on Aug 31, 2024. She feels that while the recent PKR elections had some tense moments, they also helped prepare the party for the future.

“I think the different camps healed quickly. It is common in any party to have competition and a contest of ideas. What would you offer to the party? We have to do our work and concentrate on reforms and change.

“I believe, from the feedback on the Ayuh Malaysia campaigns, that we have managed to focus and get back the trust. Yes, we have had some hiccups but I hope that, with time, we get the chance.

“We had a long campaign, but I enjoyed everything and I learnt a lot from my members, especially those from the grassroots. Great to know that the spirit is still very strong after the betrayal,” she added.

Strong candidates in the next polls

Fadhlina said aside from fielding senior leaders in seats held by defectors, there are other negotiations for seats involving who the Women’s wing is going to field.

“We are approaching it with an open mind. We won’t reject options, but we are not simply going to contest in losing seats.

“For KL and Selangor, we can’t talk too much in detail, other than saying there is a focus on the ‘pengkhianat’ seats and also those won by Bersatu under the Pakatan Harapan banner,” she revealed.

She said a recent study by the Merdeka Center showed that women voters are very crucial.

“Women and youth voters are very important. We must take this opportunity to connect with them,” said Fadhlina.

She also said party positions were no guarantee of getting a seat to contest.

“It’s not automatic that you will get the seat, whether you are a senator, or a state leader, or division chief. You have to do your job and represent the grassroots.

“One thing for voters to consider is experience. Will they vote for the party that will form the government and leaders that can serve?” she said. - Mkini