PUTRAJAYA, April 21 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today that Parti Keadilan Rakyat elections are strictly internal party matters and have no bearing on government administration, effectively dismissing speculation of a possible Cabinet reshuffle.
“This (matter) concerns party leadership, and it proceeded smoothly. If there are issues or confusion, they can be raised during the party elections.
“The party elections went well, and a special meeting will be held on Wednesday, but this is a party matter. There’s no question of it affecting the state or federal government — everything is operating as usual and smoothly,” he said.
Anwar, who is also Keadilan president, said any decisions regarding Cabinet positions are based on the performance of each member of the administration, not political contests.
“I assess based on their performance, not political calculations,” he told reporters at the Higher Education Ministry’s Aidilfitri event here.
Also present were Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir and his deputy Datuk Mustapha Sakmud, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, and Public Service Department director-general Tan Sri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz.
The Keadilan divisional elections, which concluded yesterday, saw several members of the administration losing their party division posts.
Among them was Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister and Keadilan vice-president Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, who failed to retain his Setiawangsa division chief post.
He lost to actor and director Datuk Afdlin Shauki, polling 563 votes compared with Afdlin’s 631.
Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Adam Adli Abd Halim also failed in his bid for the deputy chief post of the Hang Tuah Jaya division, receiving 791 votes against his opponent Zamzizul Nordin’s 1,905.
Yesterday, Deputy Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir also failed to defend the Johor Bahru division chief post after being defeated by Mohamad Taufiq Ismail.
The Johor Bahru MP and Keadilan strategy director obtained 587 votes while Taufiq, who is Johor Keadilan Youth chief, garnered 709 votes.
— Bernama
