by Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani
PKR moved today to put behind the rising discontent in East Malaysia when it appointed a new state chief for Sabah and also formed a National Integration Council for Sabah and Sarawak.
Thamrin Zaini was appointed the new Sabah chief, replacing Azmin Ali after leaders from the state had threatened a revolt recently over the latter’s leadership.
But the party hopes that the formation of the new National Integration Council with senior leaders from the state and also from the peninsular will be a more permanent solution to help improve ties with the two East Malaysian states.
Among the leaders appointed to the council are Dr Jeffrey Kitingan as coordinator, and Daniel Tajem from Sarawak, Dr Syed Husin Ali and Dr Toh Kin Woon.
PKR chieftains in both states were in open revolt and were demanding that local leaders be appointed to head the party.
In Sabah, factions aligned to the appointed party vice-president Jeffrey had launched a mutiny against Azmin by submitting a memorandum which, among other matters, claimed that Azmin had under-performed.
But after PKR’s national leadership met today for four hours, party president Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail announced that both vice-president Azmin and Mustafa Kamil Ayub would be replaced as Sabah and Sarawak chiefs.
Azmin has been replaced by local man Thamrin, who is Libaran assemblyman, and Mustafa was replaced by local lawyer Baru Bian.
Wan Azizah denied that Azmin’s removal was due to pressure from PKR Sabah.
“There was not any issue of revolt. We had a meeting and they agreed to give me the mandate to choose ( Sabah’s party chief) and they will support my decision,” she told reporters at PKR headquarters in Tropicana here.
Both Azmin and Mustafa Kamal Ayub have been reappointed as party chiefs of Federal Territory and Perak respectively.
Wan Azizah also anounced that Penang deputy chief minister Dr. Mansor Othman would replace Datuk Zahrain Mohammad Hashim as Penang’s new party chief with Abd Rahman Yusof as Terengganu chief, and PKR election director Saifuddin Nasution as Kelantan chief. PKR Youth chief Syamsul Iskandar would also be replacing Khalid Jafaar as Melaka party chief.
Party de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim denied that Azmin reportedly resigned from his Sabah post earlier this week.
“Azmin Ali and Mustafa Kamil Ayub were given the task ( to lead Sabah and Sarawak) till the end of October,” he told reporters at PKR headquarters in Tropicana here.
In a bid to make headway in both states, which are crucial vote banks for Barisan National (BN), ahead of the next national elections, Anwar took over the leadership of both states in March.
However in May, both Mustaffa and Azmin were handpicked to lead the party in the two states.
The unilateral move by Anwar to appoint Malay leaders from the peninsula, which was supposedly a temporary measure to consolidate the party in East Malaysia, had backfired.
In an effort to help mend the strained relationship between the party’s east and west Malaysian members, the party announced the formation of a National Integration Council for Sabah and Sarawak.
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