Azmin Ali: I'm not leaving PKR
Parti Keadilan Rakyat deputy president Azmin Ali today came out to deny rumours he is planning to leave the party over a dispute of who should be the next Menteri Besar of Selangor.
The 48-year-old, in a 40-minute press conference reaffirmed his commitment to the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, saying he will continue the Opposition struggle and will not be stepping down from his posts as PKR deputy president, Member of Parliament for Gombak and state assemblyman for Bukit Antarabangsa.
He slammed the rumours, saying they were 'no doubt' started by Umno-BN to cast him in a negative light and paint him as an unscrupulous person who will abandon the and betray the people for material gain.
'Carry on dreaming," he said.
"Mischief-makers and parties with their own selfish agenda have been working overtime to make me out as someone who is obsessed with the ambition to become Menteri Besar. This is a vicious lie," Azmin said.
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Azmin admitted it was hypocrisy to deny political aspirations to higher office, but said it wasn't a crime to harbour such ambitions, provided it was "to serve people better and more effectively, nothing more and nothing less".
Azmin continued his recent criticism of the party, saying that the party leadership have not consulted the recently elected state representatives as to who should be appointed Menteri Besar.
He said he and his supporters did not want 'nepotism in the party', adding that PKR was not the 'property' of any individual or family, but belonged to the rakyat.
He added that all mistakes must be addressed 'for the sake of the party'.
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"The issue is not Azmin Ali being chosen as Selangor Menteri Besar. The issue is the process of the selection of the candidate, which must be through a transparent consultation process.
"This process has not taken place since yesterday afternoon. Any ADUN can be appointed to that post, but what is more fundamental is the process must take place.
"We were informed that the letter (seeking to swear in the MB) has been sent by the party president to the palace, but without making any reference to the ADUN. So we are concerned, who made the decision?" he said.
Azmin added that the new state reps had an emergency meeting yesterday, where they made a decision on candidates and have handed over the names to party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
"Now, it's up to president to take up the names that have been suggested," Azmin said. He declined to reveal if his name was one of those on the list.
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Throughout his press conference - during which he was surrounded by a phalanx of other PKR members - Azmin kept repeating that his, and other elected Selangor representative, concerns were that the next Menteri Besar should be appointed via consensus.
"The person appointed to be MB must not only have integrity and be incorruptible, but must have moral conviction. Apart from being competent, he or she must be able to act without fear or favour," he said.
He twice dodged questions on Khalid Ibrahim, the former MB and current frontrunner for the post.
First, when asked if he endorsed Khalid, Azmin replied by saying that he and other leaders will accept it if Khalid was selected via the process of consensus.
Later, when asked about his opinion of Khalid, he brushed off the question, saying his personal opinion "didn't matter".
