Anwar meets Sabah PKR over Shafie’s call for leadership change

Anwar meets Sabah PKR over Shafie’s call for leadership change

Among the topics discussed were the changes in the political landscape in Malaysia and preparations for the next general election.

Opposition leader and PKR president Anwar Ibrahim (second from right) speaking with Sabah PKR chief Christina Liew (left) while PKR communication director Fahmi Fadzil looks on in Kuala Lumpur today.
KOTA KINABALU:
PKR president Anwar Ibrahim has met Sabah party chief Christina Liew for talks, less than a week after former chief minister and Warisan president Shafie Apdal called for a change in the opposition leadership.

Shafie Apdal had called for a change across the board in the national opposition leadership, which he described as disunited and directionless.

In a statement, Liew, who is also Sabah Pakatan Harapan chief, said that among the topics touched on were the “foreseeable changes in the political landscape in Malaysia and preparations for the 15th general election”.

“The current political situation is rather fluid. However, it is not likely for the country to hold fresh parliamentary elections any time soon as we do not want to compromise on the people’s safety and overall well-being (during the Covid-19 pandemic),” she said.

The Tawau MP did not go into details about the points of discussions. Also in the meeting, held after the parliamentary sitting today, was PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil.

On Saturday, Shafie had claimed the opposition would fail in GE15 if the same old leadership remained at the helm. This prompted a backlash from Sabah PKR leaders who did not take too kindly to the comments, perceived to be targeted at Anwar.

State youth chief Raymond Ahuar said the Pakatan Harapan leadership remained strong and claimed that parties like Warisan and Pejuang were the ones weakening the opposition by not supporting the coalition’s efforts in Parliament.

Sabah PKR information chief Razeef Rakimin also responded, saying Warisan should revamp its leadership ahead of GE15 if it did not want to fail in the general election.

Sabah DAP, on the other hand, has distanced itself from the leadership change with its acting chief Frankie Poon only saying that whoever was in the federal opposition line-up should be able to help Sabah’s cause.

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