Team Azmin still holds sway after latest appointments

PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Azmin Ali’s team still outnumbers his rival Rafizi Ramli’s faction in the PKR leadership line-up even after Friday’s appointment of additional office bearers.

Teams of candidates aligned to both rival leaders had clashed in a hotly contested party election held in stages since September with the results announced last month.

In that election, the incumbent deputy president Azmin defeated vice-president Rafizi to retain his post. Team Azmin also won most of the vice-presidential and central leadership council (MPP) posts up for grabs.

On Friday, party president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced the appointment of 20 more office bearers, including Rafizi, as vice-­president.

A check revealed that in terms of numbers, Team Azmin still holds sway in PKR even with the appointments.

Among the elected vice-­presidents, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin, Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar and party stalwart Tian Chua are strong Azmin supporters.

Anwar’s daughter Nurul Izzah also won the vice-presidency but resigned from her post on Dec 17.

Joining the elected vice-­presidents are three appointees announced by Anwar on Friday.

They are Rafizi, his loyalist Chang Lih Kang who is Tanjung Malim MP, and Saratok MP Ali Biju who is a staunch Azmin supporter.

All this brings the total number of elected and appointed vice-­presidents who are Azmin loyalists to four, compared to two on Team Rafizi’s side.

The situation is similar in the MPP line-up. The party elections saw the victory of 14 MPP candidates aligned to Azmin, while the remaining six are Rafizi supporters.

On Friday, an additional six MPP members were appointed. Of the six, at least three are Rafizi supporters. They are Ledang MP Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, Sungai Siput MP S. Kesavan, and former Sabah PKR Youth chief Raymond Ahuar.

The sentiments of another two MPP appointees – former Youth chief Faisal Sanusi and the relatively lesser-known Ryan Abdul Rahim – are not clear.

However, the sixth MPP appointee, who is Machang Bubok assemblyman Lee Khai Loon, is an Azmin loyalist.

This brings the number of elected and appointed MPP members aligned to Azmin to 15, while nine are on Team Rafizi.