Rebellion brews in PKR Youth as showdown between Anwar proxies continues

A rebellion against PKR Youth chief Akmal Nasir is brewing days after heads rolled in several state chapters, in what is seen as a battle for influence between two blue-eyed boys of party boss Anwar Ibrahim.

In the latest development, four youth leaders from Melaka joined their colleagues from Selangor in demanding Akmal’s replacement, after he summarily dismissed state Youth chiefs and key figures in the wing’s central leadership.

The sacking of the youth chiefs in Selangor and Perlis, as well as the dissolution of entire state leadership committees, have been seen as a showdown between Rafizi Ramli and Farhash Wafa Salvador, both staunch loyalists of Anwar.

Rafizi, who has been out of the limelight since losing a bitter battle for the deputy president’s post with former number two Mohamed Azmin Ali, is widely seen as Akmal’s mentor.

Since the exit of the faction aligned with Azmin and other leaders who are opposed to Anwar’s leadership of the party, the former MP has openly urged Anwar to purge his office of what he describes as a cartel that will betray the party president again.

The statement took clear aim at Farhash, the Perak PKR chief who through his position as Anwar’s political secretary has been building his political fortunes in the party.

The dismissals of those aligned with Farhash were followed by meetings attended by division leaders to choose a new leader.

It is learnt that a move to replace sacked Selangor Youth chief Najwan Halimi with Chua Wei Kiat only received endorsement from three division youth leaders.

A joint statement by 13 Selangor division youth chiefs yesterday rejected the move to appoint Chua.

Instead, they called for an extraordinary meeting to be held to replace Akmal, saying the youth chief had lost their trust.

A similar call was made today by youth leaders in Melaka who blamed Akmal for his failure to unite the party in the aftermath of the political crisis last year which saw PKR booted out of federal power.

They also called for the removal of their state youth chief Prasanth Kumar, saying he was only dancing to Akmal’s tune.

“We also demand that an extraordinary youth congress be held immediately to elect a new national Youth chief to ensure the stability of the youth wing and strengthen the party,” said a statement issued by four PKR Youth leaders in Melaka.

A PKR source told MalaysiaNow that the youth protests in Selangor and Melaka pointed to a larger rebellion against Akmal.

“It will be a showdown between the proxies of proxies, but then again that has always been how PKR operates, through the use of proxies linked all the way to the top household,” the source said in an apparent reference to Anwar’s family members who have been largely in control of PKR.