PKR youth leader slams DAP rep for telling Anwar to step down after Melaka defeat

PKR’s youth wing today hit out at a DAP assemblyman who had called for its president Anwar Ibrahim to step down as Pakatan Harapan (PH) chief following the coalition’s defeat in the Melaka state election, saying Anwar alone cannot be held responsible for the outcome of the polls.

Bilut rep Lee Chin Chen had said in a Facebook post that PH should select a new leader, adding that the coalition should explore other options and reach a new consensus.

In the post which he appeared to have later deleted, he said if there was no hope of PH “resetting”, the DAP leadership should consider leaving the coalition and seeking cooperation with others.

PKR Youth vice-chief Thiban Subramaniam said it was unreasonable for anyone to point fingers at Anwar, saying many factors were to blame for PH’s defeat in Melaka.

“The PH leadership including Anwar is ready to receive all criticism and views. But it would be extremely unfair if Anwar alone were blamed for PH’s loss,” he said.

In a statement, he said Lee should allow space and time for the PH leadership to conduct a post-mortem to determine the factors leading to the coalition’s defeat in the election which saw Barisan Nasional reinstated as the Melaka government.

“Lee must realise that every decision related to the Melaka election was made through consensus at the presidential council,” he added.

“It was not up to Anwar alone. In fact, he was forced to accept several issues to which he disagreed due to calls by DAP and Amanah even though these were against the people’s wishes.”

Asking if Lee had likewise called for DAP and Amanah leaders Lim Guan Eng and Mohamad Sabu to step down, he challenged him to put forth the name of any individual capable of replacing Anwar as opposition leader.

He also said Lee’s statement showed that the spirit of camaraderie in PH was on the decline.

“After losing one state election, he immediately threatens to leave PH as if there was a plan in place to form a new coalition without PKR,” he said.

“If that is what the DAP leadership wants, they are free to remove PKR from PH,” he added.

Saying PKR had contested in Malay-majority seats in the interior instead of “comfortable” seats that were easy to win, he said no one from the party had blamed any of the other components for the defeat.

BN returned to form the state government in Melaka after winning 21 of the 28 seats it contested. PH meanwhile won five seats and Perikatan Nasional, two.

PKR lost in all of the 11 seats which it contested.