KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 — Sacked PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali has condemned the attack against his ally, Chua Tian Chang, outside the party’s headquarters today.

Chua, who had been in Azmin’s faction of PKR up until the group quit the party, was mobbed earlier today by PKR members who viewed the former Batu MP as a traitor.

Azmin reminded PKR that Chua, or commonly called Tian Chua, was among those who helped establish the party over two decades ago and has fought in its struggle since.

"The attack against the PKR vice president over a simple difference of views and opinions reflects how the party hides behind a culture of gangsterism and violence,” Azmin said.

PKR’s Tian Chua heckled and jostled by PKR supporters in front of party headquarters in Petaling Jaya March 1, 2020. — Picture by Miera Zulyana

Azmin went on to accuse the PKR leadership of condoning such violence and pointedly said a party that professed to champion justice and democracy would have used rational debate to resolve disagreements.

During the PKR national congress last year, Azmin and his supporters had also been targeted physically by rival groups, leading them to abandon the event for a renegade gathering elsewhere.

Azmin and his group of 10 former PKR MPs have entered Bersatu, which Chua could not have joined even if he had left PKR with them as he is not a Bumiputera.

Police said they have arrested one suspect in relation to the attack on Chua and are seeking others who may have been involved.