COMMENTARY, Jan 10 ― Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) seems to have contained the internal feuding which has plagued it the past few months.

Its latest political bureau meeting on Wednesday night saw the attendance of deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali and vice-president Zuraida Kamaruddin which obviously pleased party president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

This is pretty significant as this is the first political bureau meeting after the fracas which marred the party congress last year.

According to sources, the meeting did not touch on the incident nor the feud which has split the party.

Advertisement

This was despite statements made by several party leaders that action should be taken against Azmin and Zuraida for being absent from party meetings for the past one year or so.

Wednesday’s meeting chaired by Anwar stayed away from discussing anything that could spur a showdown or spark any issue that would create tension.

Instead, discussions touched on US-Iran and other issues of the day in the country.

Advertisement

But the reality is the internal feud still exists and many party members expect it to escalate given that Azmin who is also the economic affairs minister was recently cleared of any involvement in the sex video case.

They also said the race for the prime minister’s post is still on since Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has still not committed to any date for the transition.

This prompted party vice-president Rafizi Ramli to suggest that a retirement date might be imposed on Dr Mahathir if he does not commit to a timeline.

Rafizi said this at the Yusof Ishak Institute annual Regional Outlook Forum in Singapore.

This may spur Azmin’s men to respond which may fire up the feud once again.

It is believed the feud started when Anwar’s supporters suspected Azmin might become prime minister as Dr Mahathir seemed to trust him more.

This theory was further “proven” when Anwar was not given any Cabinet post after winning the Port Dickson parliamentary by-election.

It is said that Azmin’s men are now moving to strengthen his hold on the party as Anwar may not become prime minister anytime soon.

In short, PKR is not going to see the end of the feud between Anwar and Azmin until the day Dr Mahathir announces the date of his handover.