KOTA KINABALU, Sept 17 — PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today called on members of the party not to betray their struggle for reformation and to remain committed to their promise of bringing in a new political culture whose goal is not to justify wrongful acts.
Launching the Sabah Keadilan Annual General Meeting here, he said every PKR member was free to have differing views, and at the same time share his opinions with the leaders. But they must never betray the spirit of their struggle for reformation that is the cornerstone and backbone of the party since its inception.
Anwar also wants PKR members to exercise self-examination and self-introspection to ensure that the seeds of Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) politics such as abuse of power, corruption, autocracy and self-enrichment do not exist in themselves.
“Don’t forget that we used to attack Umno and the BN aggressively. Why? Because they were power— crazed, robbing the nation’s wealth for themselves and impoverishing the people. Now, people are going to ask and wonder if the culture practised by Umno has passed on to us. If it has, we must take action and rid ourselves of it.
“This is what is meant by introspection, self-examination and self-critique. Don’t be so engrossed in attacking people now that we are in power. On that note, we must make choices on our policies. We see, for example, the efforts of the federal and state government... we should support the measures they are taking.
“Some people say there has been no change at all (since we took over). I disagree, Parliament has changed, the judiciary has changed and so has the media. But people are also impatient. They don’t want to wait for another 50 years to see change and for that matter the expectation and demand for a quicker change is stronger than ever,” he said.
Anwar also urged PKR leaders and members as well as those from other component parties in Pakatan Harapan (PH) to be less vocal and not jump the gun when criticised by others or the media but to be more rational instead by responding with respect and patience.
“We need to remember that the situation has changed. When PH became the government, one of the first steps taken by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was to free the media. And then the media bit us. Still, it was what we promised. What you had asked for, we have given. We wanted the media to be free to speak.
“Now that the media is free, should we not be criticised? If you understand the spirit of reformation, you will listen, assess and answer a question politely and with respect. This is the new political culture I am talking about,” he said.
Anwar also urged PKR leaders and members to keep in mind the party’s new narrative of representing the interests of the multiracial society as well as ensuring that developments are implemented in line with human development values.
PKR wants to produce leaders who are champions, fighters and defend the people’s cause at the grassroots level rather than those in the business or corporate world as PKR is set up by the people in the streets demanding change, he said.
Meanwhile, Sabah PKR chairman Datuk Christina Liew said the state PKR expects all members to play their respective part to help the state government realise the changes that the party had been fighting for, for 20 years in Sabah.
At the event, PKR Sabah received 11,362 new membership forms which were registered online. — Bernama
