SANDAKAN – The PKR leadership needs more time to look into calls for the party’s Sabah chief Datuk Sangkar Rasam to step down, said vice president Awang Husaini Sahari.
Awang said the issue could only be resolved after Hari Raya Aidilfitri and urged division leaders and members to refrain from making public statements on the matter.
“Please give enough space for the president (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) to find the best formula to solve the conflict within the Sabah PKR leadership council. Regardless of the president’s decision, all PKR members must be open and remain united.
“Datuk Seri Anwar as PKR president will consult all division heads in Sabah after Hari Raya to find the best formula to overcome this conflict.
“The 17th Sabah election is approaching, and we cannot afford to be divided,” he said in a statement.
Awang Husaini’s statement was following the development on March 18 that saw 15 out of Sabah’s 26 PKR division chiefs sign statutory declarations (SDs) to declare that they had lost confidence in Sangkar, calling for him to step down from leading the state party.
Sangkar responded by saying he would not step down from the position that was entrusted to him by Anwar, saying that only the president had the authority to remove him.
Awang Husaini said the central leadership of PKR had been informed of the matter on March 24, but no decision had been made yet, thus maintaining Sangkar’s position so far.
He said according to the party constitution, the appointment of state leadership council chairman was the prerogative of the president.
“After discussion, we have decided that the rejection of division chiefs on this appointment whether through SDs or the state leadership council meeting is not sufficient to jeopardise the position of the (state) chairman who was appointed by the president.
“In other words, without any action from the president of the party, Datuk Sangkar’s position remains unaffected,” he said.
However, Awang Husaini admitted that the 15 SDs signed were a negative point for Sangkar to continue leading the state party, saying that it represented more than half of the division chiefs in Sabah.
“Without command and control in the leadership, surely he (Sangkar) will face difficulties in making consensus decisions, what more to instruct his subordinates and the direction of the large political organisation,” he said.
Sabah is expected to go into a state election next year. – March 29, 2024