PUTRAJAYA, Nov 21 — PKR Deputy President Azmin Ali today lauded the bravery of PKR Youth for insisting that he should officiate the party’s national youth congress next month.
He said the call made by a group led by PKR youth deputy chief Hilman Idham should be viewed as an example of democracy in the party.
“I thank AMK (PKR youth) for their courage to speak up in the interest of the party.
“They were elected in the party congress by youth members and certainly we need to respect the voice of the majority ... that is the democracy in the party and also democracy we practise for many years so I appreciate what they had said earlier.
“As deputy president of the party I will certainly consider this decision by AMK seriously,” he told reporters after the soft launch of Kuala Lumpur Summit in Putrajaya today.
Hilman is Azmin’s political secretary in the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Yesterday, Hilman said 132 out of a total of 196 PKR youth division leaders across the country supported Azmin to officiate the congress in his traditional capacity as the deputy president.
However, PKR youth chief Akmal Nasrallah Mohd Nasir in his statement today rejected the call and insisted that the congress will be officiated by Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of PKR’s advisory council Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
Azmin also backed Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian who cancelled the state congress over the controversy.
He said the decision to cancel the congress today was made collectively by the party’s state leadership council (MPN) in a bid to ensure rights are given to the state leaders.
“It was a decision taken by the MPN of Sarawak.
“I think the decision taken was a collective decision in view of the latest developments in the party and they wanted the leadership of the party at the national level to seriously consider this proposal to ensure that unity of the party is given priority,” he said.
Yesterday, it was reported that 32 Sarawak PKR leaders flew into Kuala Lumpur to seek an audience with party president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, demanding their rights to autonomy.
Sarawak PKR was also vocal in insisting Azmin to officiate the party’s Youth Congress before this.
