Federal Territories PKR has rejected the Citizens' Declaration spearheaded by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, while reiterating their commitment to the Reformasi movement and party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
This pledge was made in a letter addressed to Wan Azizah, dated May 19 and signed by Federal Territories PKR chief Dr Idris Ahmad.
Idris confirmed the letter's authenticity when contacted by Malaysiakini.
In it, the Ijok assemblyperson detailed the outcome of the Federal Territories PKR leadership council meeting on May 18, which agreed to
- Fully support Wan Azizah as the party's main leader;
- To reject the involvement of Mahathir and Umno in the Citizens' Declaration movement; and
- To set aside te Citizens' Declaration in favour of Reformasi to save Malaysia, change government institutions, and free PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.
"All those who attended the meeting supported the letter. Those who did not come, I don't know whether they agreed or not," Idris said.
He declined to reveal who attended the meeting.
Asked of Wan Azizah's response, he said the party president thanked the state committee.
He said the letter to Wan Azizah was penned in response to Mahathir's attacks on Anwar.
"Mahathir had condemned Anwar, saying he was not qualified and too old to lead the country and so on.
"Surely we as party members and leaders would not let this slide."
Idris also chastised the Citizens' Declaration, saying it did not fight for Anwar's freedom, nor true reforms, but was merely meant to oust Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
"We don't want the party to stray from its mission," he added.
The missive by Federal Territories PKR was penned three days after a letter from Anwar to PKR was leaked to the public on May 16.
In his letter, Anwar had lamented that some PKR leaders were in cahoots with Mahathir and former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, whom he said are staunch defenders of cronyism.
He warned that working with them could derail PKR's struggles.
Anwar said PKR deputy president Azmin Ali and PKR vice presidents Tian Chua and Rafizi Ramli were authorised to negotiate on the Citizens' Declaration.
However, Anwar said the final declaration was a flawed Mahathir document.
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