“There is no necessity for me to do so as the names were approved by the council,” Anwar, referring to the party’s Central Leadership Council, was quoted as saying by Bernama.

He said he had also included those aligned to Azmin in the new line-up.

“If you study it, I appointed Ali Biju (as vice-president) who is Azmin’s supporter, as well as the information chief (Shamsul Iskandar Akin) who is also his supporter,” he said.

The Port Dickson MP also rejected a suggestion that he was at loggerheads with Azmin, adding that he wanted to protect the interest of all PKR members and to avoid factionism.

“You can’t have all your supporters in the council. You must have supporters of PKR,” he said.

Azmin, who is also the economic affairs minister, has urged Anwar to review the appointments, claiming some of the appointees were directly involved in rigging practices during the last PKR polls.

“The recently-announced appointments do not reflect the principles of fair and just representations, in line with party members’ aspirations, and will not help the party move forward,” said Azmin in a statement today.

Among the appointees are Rafizi Ramli, who lost to Azmin after a divisive showdown for the deputy presidency last month.

Rafizi was announced as vice-president, joining Tian Chua, Xavier Jeyakumar and Zuraida Kamaruddin.