To the Leadership and Members of PKR
Do not go down the ugly path of eating your own spit after you screamed against a similar scenario with the Umno when the latter was in power
Selangor, Malaysia: Dear PKR Leadership and Members, I write to you with a heavy heart and a deep sense of urgency regarding the direction Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) appears to be taking. Recent developments suggest that the party is considering banning elections for the posts of president and deputy president—currently held by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Rafizi Ramli—in the upcoming May 2025 party polls.
This move, if true, threatens to undermine the very principles of justice and democracy that PKR was founded to uphold.Since its inception at the turn of the century, PKR has stood as a beacon of hope for millions of Malaysians who yearned for a political system free from the authoritarian tendencies and corruption that plagued parties like UMNO.
The Reformasi movement, from which PKR emerged, was a clarion call against undemocratic practices—against leaders shielding themselves from accountability and denying their own members the right to contest leadership posts. Yet, today, we hear troubling echoes of this past.
Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin, PKR’s International Bureau Chairman, recently stated on February 1, 2025, in Ipoh: “The goal is to maintain internal party stability and improve service to the public, especially with the next general election approaching in about two years. There is no official party decision preventing a contest, but among the leadership, we hold discussions as we prioritise more important agendas.”
This justification feels eerily reminiscent of the excuses UMNO once used to stifle internal democracy—excuses that led to its downfall.For six decades, UMNO ruled Malaysia, only to be brought low by the greed and complacency of leaders like Najib Razak, who faced no challenge within the party and thus no check on their excesses.
The 1MDB scandal and UMNO’s electoral losses in 2018 and 2022 stand as stark warnings of what happens when a party denies its members their democratic voice. PKR, born to oppose such tyranny, cannot now follow this same shoddy path.
The irony is bitter: a party that fought for a better democracy risks “eating its own spit” by shielding Anwar and Rafizi from contests, betraying the millions who rallied behind Reformasi’s ideals.I implore you, the members of PKR, to defy any attempt to impose a no-contest rule for the top leadership.
You are the frontier of a better Malaysia—a nation where power is not hoarded but earned through open competition. Anwar Ibrahim himself endured decades of struggle to prove that leadership must be tested, not assumed.
Rafizi Ramli, too, rose through the ranks by engaging with the party’s base, not by hiding from it. Why, then, should they fear a contest now? If the leadership believes in its vision, let it be validated by your votes, not preserved by decree.The statement by Shamsul Iskandar hints at a leadership more concerned with stability than accountability—an agenda that prioritizes control over courage.
This is not the PKR I know. This is not the party that toppled a 60-year regime in 2018 or formed a unity government in 2022 against all odds. You, the members, must reject this slide into hypocrisy. Organize, speak out, and, if necessary, field rival candidates to ensure the party’s soul remains intact.
Democracy within PKR is not a luxury to be discarded for convenience—it is the bedrock of its legitimacy. I urge you to reflect on UMNO’s fate and act before it’s too late. The Malaysian people deserve a PKR that lives up to its name—Keadilan Rakyat—not one that mirrors the failures it once condemned.
The choice is yours, and the stakes could not be higher. Yours in hope for a just and democratic Malaysia,
Kazi Mahmood