JOHOR BARU, June 21 — Around 50 Johor PKR women leaders, including those from the national, state and divisions, have quit the party today after claiming they have lost confidence with the party.
Johor PKR women’s vice-chief Nor Ashidah Ibrahim said they made the decision willingly and without pressure after being disgruntled with the party’s leadership, and are now supporting the Perikatan Nasional.
“Our decision was made because we have lost faith in the party’s leadership. An example is the unfair reasons given by the party’s leadership by suspending PKR women’s wing chief Haniza Talha.
“The same thing has also happened to Johor PKR women’s wing chief Rahamizon Abdul Ghani, Johor PKR deputy chief Tan Poh Lai and other associates who have had their party membership dismissed or suspended without any reason or basis,” said Nor Ashidah during a press conference at a shophouse in Taman Universiti here.
The event was also attended by Rahamizon and more than 50 division women’s wing leaders who came to give their support.
Nor Ashidah, who is also the PKR central women’s wing executive council member, said that Johor PKR women’s wing treasurer Siti Noraini Md Jani and 18 of the wing’s division leaders have also declared that they have quit the party today.
Nor Ashidah said all 18 women leaders were from PKR divisions from Tenggara, Mersing, Sembrong, Johor Baru, Pasir Gudang, Pulai, Muar, Pontian, Tanjung Piai, Sri Gading, Selijang, Simpang Renggam, Batu Pahat, Ayer Hitam, Ledang, Pagoh, Labis and Tebrau.
She claimed that in PKR, the leadership’s direction has led to a witch-hunt for those aligned to previous PKR leaders such as Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and Zuraida Kamaruddin.
“This has led to more fragmentation and the leadership’s failure to trust members who have chosen the party.
“This clearly shows that the leadership is bent on destroying the strong unity that was built in the past,” said Nor Ashidah, claiming that the leadership’s action was an unfair move especially for those that have served the party for many years.
Nor Ashidah said that the PKR women members who have quit today will not join any political party for the time being.
“We will focus fully on supporting the non-governmental organisations such as Penggerak Komuniti Negara and Nation of Women.
“We are also strongly behind the Perikatan Nasional government,” she said.
The two NGOs mentioned above are linked to Azmin and Zuraida’s camp.
Meanwhile, Johor PKR chief Syed Ibrahim Noh said he has not been briefed about a mass exodus of the party’s women wing leaders.
However, he said that such matters were normal in politics and the state PKR members were free to make their own choices.
“For Johor PKR, we welcome their exit from the party. It’s their choice and we wish them all the best,” he said when contacted by Malay Mail shortly after the press conference.
At the same time, Syed Ibrahim said it was also good that disgruntled members exited the party to make clear their stance.
He said such as exodus will not put a dent or have any effect on Johor PKR activities as the leadership has other members to replace those who have quit.
