KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 — The Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) election in May is important as it is the first time the party will choose a new leadership while its president, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, is serving as prime minister.
Its International Bureau chairman, Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin said as the core of the Madani government, Keadilan’s party elections will likely feature leadership capable of strengthening the government administration, and be an early platform for the party to face the 16th general election, which must be held by 2027.
“We know that after the Keadilan elections, we might only have a year or so to prepare for the general election, which may also be called early, depending on the prime minister.
“But the crux of the matter is whoever leads Keadilan after this, they have a huge responsibility, the need for a vision and duties are most important, to support and help the Prime Minister, who is our party president.
“We want a strong team as we know that when we are the government, we need to fulfil a lot of aspirations and provide service to the people,” he said as a guest on Bernama TV’s Ruang Bicara programme last night, which discussed the topic of ‘Pemilihan PKR: Langkah Diplomasi, Memperkukuh Parti’.
Shamsul Iskandar also said that the party elections have to take into account the capability of facing various challenges, especially attacks from the opposition and various kinds of slander.
The party therefore has to have a resilient leadership with a clear vision to draft programmes that could endear the party to the people.
Citing the example of present younger leaders, including Keadilan Women’s chief Fadhlina Sidek and Keadilan vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, Shamsul Iskandar said the elections would show the people that the party did not lack capable leaders.
“This is what we should show the people, our willingness, commitment and spirit to offer younger leaders who can deal with elections and also serve the people,” he added.
— Bernama
