KUALA LUMPUR: PKR's Padang Serai MP N Gobalakrishnan has lashed out at deputy presidential hopeful Azmin Ali and warned that he would quit if the “manipulation” continued.
Conceding that he did not see eye-to-eye with Azmin over several issues, Gobalakrishnan also accused him of using party supremo Anwar Ibrahim to further his cause.
Gobalakrishnan, who is linked to Azmin's rival Zaid Ibrahim, claimed that Azmin was “running the party like his own company”.
“I urge him to come out and fight like a gentleman against Zaid. Don't use all these tactics, trying to deny members from practicing democracy,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby this morning.
The MP was commenting on the party's earlier decision to prevent Anwar's daughter Nurul Izzah from contesting the number two post citing the Oct 10 deadline for divisions to submit their respective nominations.
However, PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told a press conference this afternoon that the party had decided to accept the nominations and allow Nurul to contest.
Critics claimed that there was a conspiracy to prevent her from contesting as it would render a blow to Azmin's chances. Azmin is considered the favourite to win and is said to be Anwar's preferred choice as well.
Zaid has previously announced last week that he would pull out from the race and back Nurul if she decided to contest. The 30-year-old Lembah Pantai MP had yet to announce her decision.
Others in the running are Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and vice-president Mustaffa Kamil Ayub.
'Take action against me, I don't care'
Fuelling the conspiracy theory, Gobalakrishnan claimed that “hidden hands” were behind the initial decision to disqualify Nurul from the contest.
"I am very angry that somebody who qualified through the democratic process is being denied (the opportunity to contest). Whether she contests or not is another matter,” he said.
"Why does the JPP (election commitee) accept some nominations and not others? Just because she has been nominated, some people are worried that she would contest," he added.
Frustrated with these issues, Gobalakrishnan said there was no point for him to remain in the party if the “manipulation” continued.
"They can take action against me, I don't care. They can call me Trojan (horse), traitor, but I will stay and fight. But if this (democratic) process does not take place, I don't think I can stay," he said.
'Manipulation' in Subang too
Gobalakrishnan also accused JPP of manipulating the Subang division election in order to rescue its incumbent chairman R Sivarasa, who is attempting to defend his party vice-president post.
The Subang meeting was suspended following disruptions due to Sivarasa's shocking defeat.
Gobalakrishnan alleged that V Sivam, the newly-elected Subang division chief, was suspended yesterday on technical grounds to "save Sivarasa" who only managed to garner five votes.
"I am urging JPP to buck up and clear all these cases before the coming party election (for top office bearers) or disband and postpone the national PKR elections to be fair to everyone," he said.
The PKR divisional elections, which kicked off late September, were riddled with disruptions and technical problems, causing nine divisions to hold the polls at a later date.
According to secretary-general Saifuddin, five divisions would hold their polls before the PKR congress. These are Kuala Nerus, Jerai, Merbok, Petaling Jaya Selatan and Hulu Selangor.
The other four, Klang, Kapar, Kuala Langat and Subang, would do so after the congress.
However, Gobalakrishnan said the JPP had not done enough to curb the problems and cited the Kota Raja division polls as an example.
“(Incumbent chairman Dr) Xavier (Jayakumar) took hundreds of gangsters and sat in front of the PKR headquarters forcing the party to make a decision on Kota Raja.
“Why until now no action (against him)? Is Azmin in cahoots with Xavier?" he asked.
The Kota Raja division polls was mired in controversy because the election committee took nearly 70 hours to declare the winner.
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