Why a traitor was given front row seat last night? A PKR delegate asks

PUTRAJAYA – A PKR delegate has voiced her concerns on the irony of the party’s VIP-treatment that a certain party traitor was given during the officiating ceremony of PKR’s 17th Annual Congress last night.

Without naming those individuals, PKR Melaka delegate, Ginie Lim highlighted how it was simply ironic for the traitor to be accorded a front-row seat at the stage just because of his capacity as a Member of Parliament.

“The political reality is full of irony. A Representative who betrayed the party three years ago was given a front-row seat yesterday just because he has one vote in Parliament.

“Whereas a former party youth chief, who is also the former MP of Hang Tuah Jaya and a member of the central leadership council, sits in the representative seat,” Lim lamented when debating the president’s policy speech today.

She added that while politics is fluid, the leaders in PKR needs to be loyal in order to set themselves apart from being seen as opportunistic politicians.

During her time at rostrum, Lim also implored on the party’s upper echelons to not make decisions especially concerning political appointments, in silo.

“If the highest leadership makes political appointment decisions without involving the branches, eventually, the people's problems cannot be solved. Branches are the official administrators of the party at the grassroots level.

“When heavy rain floods, houses burn, storms blow off roofs, accidents happen, and sickness and death occur, branch leaders and branch chiefs are the frontliners who go down to provide assistance and support,” Lim reminded.

She also criticised the current practice in the party where individuals with academic credentials will usually be automatically considered as potential candidates without proper consideration of their knowledge of local issues.

"After winning, some YBs don't even know which roads that needs to built, which houses needed to be repaired," Lim claimed, highlighting the disconnect between elected PKR leaders and the issues faced by the communities they were supposed to represent.

As such, Lim suggested that the central leadership should propose for the fielding of electoral candidates, even those having academic qualifications, must come from either the branch level or has earned the support from the branch.