Anwar intervenes as tensions surface in PKR leadership
First casualties of M'sian GE as opposition party's infighting spills over to the candidates' list
A picture showing an empty seat betweenDr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Mr Azmin Ali, and the sullen look on their faces, has gone viral.
It happened at a Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) event in Seberang Jaya, Penang, on Sunday.
The picture summed up the intense tussle over seats that had gone on between the two camps in Malaysia's opposition PKR - one camp led by its deputy president Mr Azmin and the other by its president Dr Wan Azizah and her chief ally Rafizi Ramli, one of the vice-presidents.
The tension between PKR's top two continued at a rally the opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition held in Sungai Besar, Selangor, on Monday.
The rally came at the end of a day of high-level politics in PKR that saw Mr Azmin meeting Mr Anwar Ibrahim in a Selangor hospital where the latter had been admitted for observation.
Although Mr Azmin did not completely get what he wanted, a number of names on his preferred list were reinstated.
The main casualty on the list appeared to be the incumbent for Rawang, Ms Gan Pei Nie, who broke down at a press conference on Monday.
Ms Gan, who is a protege of vice-president Tian Chua, was dropped, as were top Azmin aide Khalid Jaafar and another Azmin ally, Mr Mohd Razlan Jalaluddin.
But most of Mr Azmin's candidates went through.
The tensions over the list of candidates means that the PKR president and her deputy will be going into the general election at war with each other. They are barely on speaking terms and seem unable to even pretend to be cordial with each other.
Many in PKR were on edge during the PH rally on Monday.
The leaders, including Mr Azmin, were unsure whether Dr Wan Azizah would keep to the list of names hammered out between him and Mr Anwar.
She kept everyone hanging on until the end of her speech when she sought the consent of Mr Azmin to read out the list.
Tussles to dominate seats in a general election happens in every party but this one had a personal edge to it, given the long-running rivalry between the Azmin and Rafizi camps.
Mr Rafizi sees himself as the one who can manage the party on Dr Wan Azizah's behalf. More importantly, he thinks he can take on Mr Azmin.
The tussle may also have much to do with the party election due later this year. - THE STAR
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
