PENANG PKR RESTRUCTURING: WILL ZURAIDA FORCE YATI OUT?

(Translation from Nanyang Siang Pau)

PENANG PKR RESTRUCTURING:

WILL ZURAIDA FORCE YATI OUT?

(Exclusive report by Lai Thiem Hwa)

(Penang 30^th July 2009) Penang PKR has advanced progressively through integration, not only its State Chief is facing “abdication”, but its State Wanita Chief is also afraid that she won’t last until next year’s party election.

According to information obtained by Nanyang Siang Pau, for implementing the party's internal “cleansing movement”, apart from State Chief Dato' Seri Zahrain is facing the joint letter submitted by 9 Divisions and 9 Divisions AMK to overthrow him, State Wanita Chief Norhayati is also facing the fate of being replaced, and the executor is not Penang grass-roots, but National Chief Zuraida.

CHANGE OF “PROBLEMATIC STATES” LEADERSHIP

During the special interview with our press, Zuraida highlighted that she is actively making pertinent arrangements to attract more professional females to join PKR, for example, to replace key State Wanita leaders in “problematic states”, of which Penang is one of those states that badly in need of restructuring.

She frankly stated that Penang Wanita PKR has been in inactive stage since the tenure of former State Wanita Chief Aminah. However, since Yati has taken over as State Wanita Chief, Penang Wanita PKR has been loosen and incoherent gradually in terms of organization. Penang Wanita PKR is now not as good as Wanita from other Pakatan Rakyat component parties. Therefore, Penang Wanita PKR needs drastic change at the moment.

It is noted that during the interview, she expressed many times to the reporter that Penang Wanita PKR is lacking in a candidate who is professional with leadership charisma and the ability to reform. Apparently, she was referring to Yati who works as a Clerical Assistant to a factory.

PENANG WANITA PKR NEEDS A LEADER

It is understood that National Wanita Chief has the authority to select the candidate she desires to lead the respective State Wanita. In order to advance progressively through integration and to achieve the goal of expanding Wanita PKR, new leaders have been silently coming to the fore in Johor, Perlis, Wilayah Persekutuan (WP) for the past 2 months. Former MCA Wanita Central Committee member Felicia Ling has assumed the post as WP Wanita Chief since last month. Meanwhile, Dr. Suraya has been appointed to lead Perlis Wanita since last weekend.

It is generally believed that Penang will follow the above 3 states, to be the next state going through another round of restructuring. According to a Wanita Central Committee member who wished to remain anonymous, Yati's term would not last until next year’s party election.

THE REPLACEMENT OF YATI DEPEND ON ZAHRAIN

According to analysis, based on the present strength of Zuraida and her repeatedly drastic reforms, it will not be challenging for her to replace Yati. However, it is understood that Zuraida is still waiting for the right moment to replace the latter, because Yati still has the backing of State Cheif Dato' Seri Zahrain.

In fact, in the beginning of this year, Yati was once removed by Zuraida with the reason of “rarely attended meetings”, which had caused “a vacuum” to that position at one time. However, Yati has reassumed her post after the intervention of Zahrain. It has been surmised that if the “topple-Zahrain” movement in Penang is unsuccessful, then Zuraida might have to replace Yati after the party election.

YATI HAS NOT BEEN HIGHLY REGARDED

Furthermore, Zuraida also revealed to our press that she has set-up a team in Penang that is basically younger and professional with aim to expand the Wanita networks and to aggressively recruit of new members. Wanita Central Committee member Dr. Joyce Lee is one of the members of this team, and the latter was recently entrusted with the responsibility to assist in identifying professional females in Penang State. From this, it can be easily seen that this professional team has the potential of replacing the existing Norhayati's lineup.

It is notable that the interaction and coordination between Zuraida and Yati were not prominent during the several by-elections in Northern Peninsular. Of which, Zuraida preferred to mobilize Wanita leaders from all over Malaysia, and to entrust them with important responsibilities. Judging from this, we can see that Yati has undoubtedly not been highly regarded.