PKR vows to field better candidates this time

Scarred by a slew of defections from elected representatives and party leaders, PKR today vowed to choose better candidates for the next general election.

Delivering her policy speech at the eighth national congress in Pulai, Johor, PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said that it will "not compromise with enemies within".

Addressing about 2,000 delegates and observers, she said that the leadership takes on board feedback that some of its candidates were "less qualified and performed poorly in Parliament or state assemblies and did not serve the rakyat properly."

"We will give our guarantee that we will consult the divisions and grassroots in choosing the candidates.

"(They) should be from those who are qualified, hold true to the principles of the struggle and will not be tempted by the millions of ringgit from the enemy," she said.

PKR has become the butt of jokes following a string of defections since 2008.

The defectors, including Kulim-Bandar Bahru MP Zulkifli Noordin who was sacked from the party,  joined the Independent bloc and have since actively attacked their former party.

Finding a silver lining in the damaging resignations, Wan Azizah said that it is good that the traitors are weeded out early.

"It's fortunate that they were exposed early and had opted to jump ship and betray the struggle. Now, they've unashamedly become the tools of corruption," she said.

Malaysians worse off under BN

Calling the government of the day “sang penguasa”, Wan Azizah said that under the BN, the people have grown much poorer, despite the country's purported development over the past few decades.

“The rakyat still live on household incomes of RM1,500 a month when the Selangor government has put RM1,500 as the threshold for urban poverty.

“Two-thirds of those with the lowest incomes are Malays and bumiputera, while the elite beat their chest to declare themselves the champions of Malays and bumiputera,” she said.

Quoting World Bank statistics, she said that the income gap for Malaysia has worsened from 2004 to 2009, with the Gini coefficient dropping from 37.91 to 46.21.

“This places Malaysia worse than countries said to be poorer and more backward like Indonesia, Afghanistan and Iraq, including even a war-torn country like Liberia,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Auditor-General's Report has turned into “a race to find the biggest evidence of corruption”, with the 2008 report estimating that losses from corruption as high as RM28 billion.

If before university graduates would expect to have a better life than their counterparts in earlier generations, now they face debt and unemployment, she lamented.

“The rakyat should not be blamed for this,” said Wan Azizah, stressing that the government was fully responsible for the country’s malaise.

 Still believing in equal opportunities

Referring to the Pakatan Rakyat shadow budget for 2012, Wan Azizah said that PKR remains staunch in its belief of equal opportunities for all.

While PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin ruffled feathers yesterday in his policy speech with his challenge to Umno to amend the constitution to ensure a Malay prime minister, his president reiterated PKR's multiracial message.

“For the first time, a party spearheaded by Malays and bumiputera is fighting for the rights of all Malaysians, regardless of ethnicity and religion.

“Our belief that social justice knows no racial boundaries have become the core of our struggle and our existence,” she said.

Also present at the PKR congress today were DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub and PSM chairperson Nasir Hashim.

Earlier, PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution announced that among the party divisions which has seen a surge in new membership over the past year was Kulim-Bandar Bahru with 790 new members. 

“Kulim-Bandar Bahru has the second highest number of new members. The people are showing that they still support us despite their MP,” he said to cheers and hoots from the floor.

In his opening speech, Saifuddin, who is Machang MP, revealed that Pulai Springs Resort was the only venue in Johor which agreed to host the congress.

“We tried to book other hotels but the propreitors were scared. We couldn't even book a hall at a Chinese school, which could have fitted more people... This is Johor, the strongest BN bastion in the world. ” he said caustically.