Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) today appointed former Pemodalan Nasional Bhd chairperson Abdul Khalid Ibrahim as its new treasurer.

In a brief statement, party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said Khalid - a close associate of PKR adviser Anwar Ibrahim - will replace Abdul Rahman Othman who quit the post on Wednesday.

PKR information chief Tian Chua said Khalid ( left ), who was also the former chief executive of Guthrie Group Bhd, was chosen for the post because his commitment for reform especially in the economic sector.

"He is highly regarded in the community, a leading and successful businessman and has long shown interest to set the reform agenda in the economic sector. So it was quite natural that he is handpicked for the post," he said.

Meanwhile, Tian said it is not known if Abdul Rahman had quit the party as his notice only stated that he was resigning from the post.

However, he declined to comment on Abdul Rahman's statement - reported in Malay daily Utusan Malaysia - that he had lost faith in the party's leadership.

Causing ripples

Supreme council members who requested anonymity revealed that the former treasurer had been upset with the merger between Parti Keadilan Nasional (Keadilan) and Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) to form PKR.

"He was never keen on the merger and has made his strong views known to all. Since then, he has been quite difficult," said the sources.

Prior to the merger, Abdul Rahman ( left ) was Keadilan's deputy president. Following the merger, PRM president Dr Syed Husin Ali was made deputy president of the new entity.

The sources alleged that Abdul Rahman caused ripples when he went against the 'no-contest' advice in the 2005 party election and challenged Syed Husin for the deputy president post.

"And although he lost the contest, we decided not to hold a grudge against him and for the sake of party unity, appointed him as treasurer."

According to them, Abdul Rahman went against the party on numerous occasions causing confusion among the grassroots.

"I remembered the time when the party clearly stated that we are not in support of PAS' Islamic state agenda and yet he went for the launching of the document.

"More recently, he went against the party's stand not to interfere in the row between former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Pak Lah (Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) debacle by attending a talk by the former premier."

Abdul Rahman could not be reached for comment.