Saifuddin Reconcile Walk The Talk

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PUTRAJAYA: Talk about mending the rift between rival party factions must be matched with sincere action, says PKR secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (pic).

The party, he said, welcomes deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali’s intention of wanting to reconcile with president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim but added that it should not differ between what is said and what is done.

“One can’t go around saying that he is my leader and then suddenly you attack him,” he said.

On Sunday, Azmin who pledged loyalty to the party said he was ready to reconcile with Anwar.

Azmin had also urged PKR members and leaders to band together and unite after a year marred with internal conflicts.

To a question, Saifuddin said holding the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 dinner - attended by Azmin and several other PKR leaders - was not against the party ethics.

“But if what is said in the speeches has elements of slander, it is up to party members to evaluate. We should not underestimate them. They know who are the leaders with humility and those who are arrogant and do not truly embrace reforms,” he said.

At a separate event earlier in Kuala Lumpur, Saifuddin said PKR vice-president Zuraida Kamaru-ddin’s claim that Azmin and her were ready to be sacked from the party was admission that they did something wrong.

Only those who knew they had flouted party rules would openly say they were ready to be fired, he said.

“For me, that’s an admission of guilt,” said Saifuddin, who is also Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister, after launching the Malaysia Economic Monitor report by the World Bank Group yesterday.

Zuraida said Azmin and her were ready in case they were booted from PKR during Sunday’s dinner with pro-Azmin supporters and leaders aligned to him.

“If we get fired, Azmin and I are ready. We are willing to be sacrificed for the sake of the party,” she said in her speech at the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 dinner.

Saifuddin said in line with Anwar’s stance, no disciplinary action would be taken against Zuraida and Azmin, who snubbed the final day of the PKR national congress on Sunday, before holding their own gathering.

“From Anwar’s perspective, he is still taking the road towards reconciliation, to sit down and have a discussion,” he said.

However, he added that delegates at the recently concluded PKR national congress expressed their intolerance towards any leaders found to be flouting party rules, including skipping meetings, referring to Azmin and Zuraida.

The four-day PKR national congress in Melaka was marred by a fistfight and arrest of two individuals from rival factions.

The congress also saw the leaders trading barbs and walkouts by pro-Azmin delegates after claiming that delegates were delivering speeches, which were critical of him.

Saifuddin, who was also asked about the party’s stance on Azmin’s sex tape scandal, said he refused to get involved in the issue before police concluded their investigations this month.

He was referring to a sex video featuring former Santubong PKR Youth chief Haziq Abdullah Abdul Aziz and another person allegedly resembling Azmin.

Haziq claimed the man in the video was Azmin but the latter claimed it to be a nefarious ploy to destroy his political career.

On Sunday night, Zuraida also claimed that Anwar tried to convince her the sex video allegedly involving Azmin was real.- Star

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