KOTA KINABALU, Oct 7 — Former Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia said he will not join former Umno colleague Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak in applying to join PKR despite recently pledging his support to Datuk Anwar Ibrahim.
Pandikar said it was never his intention to join PKR as he was planning to resurrect a local party in which he had once been a member.
“I am reviving AKAR with a new lineup: 70 per cent new and young leaders and 30 per cent otai,” he said when contacted.
AKAR is the Malay initials of Parti Angkatan Keadilan Rakyat Bersatu while “otai” is Malay slang for old timers or veterans.
When asked if he has registered the party with the Registrar of Societies, Pandikar said it was in the process of being approved.
“Done. Now we are just waiting for the announcement,” he said.
AKAR was formed as a breakaway to the then ruling Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) in 1989. It became a Barisan Nasional component in 1991.
In 2001, Pandikar dissolved AKAR and joined Umno.
Since leaving Umno late last December, he has been using his position as president of the non-governmental organisation United Sabah Bajau Organisation (Usbo) as his political platform.
Salleh is currently Usbo advisor.
He and Pandikar had invited Anwar to Usbo’s Malaysia Day event and pledged their support to the PKR president, with Pandikar apologising for his past criticism of the national leader.
Photos emerged of Pandikar and Anwar in a peace pledge ceremony to bury the hatchet, with the two clad in traditional Bajau gear, holding hands and barefoot on a beach in Kota Belud, further spurring talks of the two Bajau leaders joining PKR.
When asked about the significance and expectations following the event, Pandikar said that it was a political move but that the understanding was that he would not join PKR.
When rumours that Salleh’s application to PKR had been approved started circulating last weekend, Salleh said he applied to join the party due to its multiracial policies but Anwar said that the party’s political bureau had yet to review the application.
