Has PKR lost the plot in East Malaysia?

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

By Haris Ibrahim

Late last year, in a move seen by many as boosting PKR’s prospects in the forthcoming state elections in Sarawak, Ngemah independent state assemblyperson Gabriel Adit, apparently with thousands of his supporters in tow, joined PKR.

A Malaysiakini report dated 13th November, 2008 quoted Adit as saying that “once he is officially in PKR, he will help his colleagues at state and national levels to build up the party’s grassroots where it counts most ahead of the state elections”.

At the PKR Congress on 29th November, last year, Adit was showcased as a key asset to the party making a siginificant headway in Sarawak at the next state elections.

In June, this year, the PKR Sarawak leadership underwent a revamp. A Malaysiakini report dated 3rd June, 2009 has it that this exercise was with a view to “strengthen the party in view of the upcoming state elections”

Mustaffa Kamil Ayub, who hails from Perak, Semenanjung, and who was appointed the new chief of PKR Sarawak in the state leadership revamp, acknowledged that “the initiatives taken by certain Dayak leaders to join PKR had opened the minds and eyes of their supporters so much so that they too have now joined the party”, that the “number of Dayaks in the party has increased significantly” and that “It is important, therefore, we give an emphasis to the participation of the Dayaks in the party”.

Adit was appointed a member of the state leadership council.

Last week, Malaysiakini reported that a new party called Pakatan Rakyat Malaysia would be launched in Sarawak in the next few days and that this new party would be helmed by Adit. In another report of the same date, Malaysiakini reported that when asked if he was behind this new party, Adit denied this and said “As of today, I am still a PKR member. But who knows (about) tomorrow?”.

Is PKR about to lose one who Anwar had categorised as a strong ally in Sarawak?

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