People's Justice Party (Malaysia)

Anwar Ibrahim, founder and leader of the party

The economy of Malaysia was affected by the 1997 Asian financial crisis.[5] The finance minister at the time, Anwar Ibrahim (also the deputy prime minister), instituted a series of economic reforms and austerity measures in response. These actions were exacerbated when he tabled controversial amendments to the Anti-Corruption Act that sought to increase the powers of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).[6] Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad disagreed with these measures and ultimately sacked Anwar from all his posts.[7] This incident and the circumstances in which it happened led to a public outcry in what became known as the Reformasi movement, but it also resulted in the arrest and subsequent incarceration of Anwar on what many believed to be politically motivated charges of sexual misconduct and corruption.[8]

Building on the momentum of the Reformasi, a political movement called the Social Justice Movement (Malay: Pergerakan Keadilan Sosial) was launched on 10 December 1998.[9] It was led by Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, wife of Anwar.[10] But, facing difficulties in registering Adil as a political party, the reformasi movement took over a small dormant party formed in 1991, Ikatan Masyarakat Islam Malaysia, and relaunched it as the National Justice Party (Malay: Parti Keadilan Nasional) on 4 April 1999, just in time to take part in the 1999 general elections.[11] The party has been noted as having rough similarities with the now-defunct multi-racial social democratic Parti Keadilan Masyarakat Malaysia.[12] The party was joined by the Democratic Action Party, the Malaysian People's Party and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party in a broadly based electoral alliance known as Barisan Alternatif to take on the ruling BN coalition in the 1999 general elections.[13]

Between 27 and 30 September 1999, seven activists, including Keadilan leaders; Vice-President Tian Chua, N. Gobalakrishnan, Youth leader Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, Mohamed Azmin Ali, Fairus Izuddin and Dr Badrul Amin Baharun; were arrested and as a result prevented from contesting in the elections.[14] Further arrests were made on 10 April 2001 and those arrested were subsequently charged and incarcerated under the Internal Security Act.[15] They became known as the Reformasi 10.[16]

The party entered the campaign with many of its key leaders under arrest and as a result saw it winning only five parliamentary seats in the elections despite gaining 11.67% of the total votes cast. The Barisan Alternatif as a whole gained 40.21% of the total votes cast with PAS gaining 27 seats and DAP gaining ten seats.

The post election period saw negotiations between KeADILan and Parti Rakyat Malaysia on a possible merger.[17] Despite some opposition in both parties to the move,[18][19] a 13-point Memorandum of Understanding was eventually signed by the two parties on 5 July 2002.[20] On 3 August 2003, the new merged entity was officially launched and assumed its current name.[21] Somehow, as PRM had yet to be de-registered by the authorities, the remained dissidents convened a National Congress in Johor Bahru and elected a new Executive Committee led by former PRM youth leader, Hassan Abdul Karim to resume political activities on 17 April 2005.

Anwar Ibrahim speaking in 2005

As the new amendments to the party constitution had yet to be approved by the Registrar of Societies, candidates from PRM contested the 2004 general election using the symbol of the old National Justice Party.[22] The party fared poorly in the elections and only managed to retain one parliamentary seat, Permatang Pauh which is held by Dr Wan Azizah, despite winning 9% of the popular vote. The poor showing was later attributed to malapportionment and gerrymandering in the delineation of constituencies, with one estimate suggesting that on average, a vote for the BN government was worth 28 times the vote of a Keadilan supporter.[23]

On 2 September 2004, in a decision by the Federal Court, Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy conviction was overturned and he was freed. This unexpected turn of events came timely for KEADILAN which was facing flagging morale due to its dismal performance in the elections.

In December 2005 PKR organised its second national congress.[24] Among the motions passed was the New Economic Agenda[25] that envisioned a non-racial economic policy to replace the race-based New Economic Policy. PKR managed a breakthrough into Sarawak politics in May 2006. In Sarawak state elections, Dominique Ng, a lawyer and activist, won in the Padungan constituency in Kuching, a majority Chinese locale. KEADILAN lost narrowly in Saribas, a Malay-Melanau constituency by just 94 votes. Sarawak is a traditional BN stronghold. PKR has also pursued an aggressive strategy of getting key personalities from within and outside politics. In July 2006, Khalid Ibrahim, former CEO of Permodalan Nasional Berhad and Guthrie, was appointed as Treasurer of the PKR.

In the 2008 elections, PKR won 31 seats in Parliament, with the DAP and PAS making substantial gains as well with 28 seats and 23 seats respectively. In total, the taking of 82 seats by the opposition to BN's 140 seats made it the best performance in Malaysian history by the opposition, and denied BN the two-thirds majority required to make constitutional changes in the Dewan Rakyat.

PKR also successfully contested the state legislative elections which saw the loose coalition of PKR, DAP and PAS forming coalition governments in the states of Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor. The offices of the Menteri Besar of Selangor and the Deputy Chief Minister of Penang were held by KEADILAN elected representatives, Khalid Ibrahim and Mohd Fairus Khairuddin, respectively.

On 14 April 2008, Anwar celebrated his official return to the political stage, as his ban from public office expired a decade after he was sacked as deputy prime minister. One of the main reasons the opposition seized a third of parliamentary seats and five states in the worst ever showing for the BN coalition that has ruled for half a century, was due to him leading at the helm.[26] A gathering of more than 10,000 supporters greeted Anwar in a rally welcoming back his return to politics. In the midst of the rally, police interrupted Anwar after he had addressed the rally for nearly half an hour and forced him to stop the gathering.[27]

Malaysia's government intensified its efforts on 6 March to portray opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim as political turncoats, days ahead of Malaysian general election, 2008 on 8 March that would determine whether he posed a legitimate threat to the ruling coalition.[28] Campaigning wrapped up 7 March for general elections that would see gains for Malaysia's opposition amid anger over race and religion among minority Chinese and Indians.[29] Malaysians voted on 8 March 2008 in parliamentary elections.[29] Election results showed that the ruling government suffered a setback when it failed to obtain two-thirds majority in parliament, and five out of 12 state legislatures were won by the opposition parties.[30] Reasons for the setback of the ruling party, which had retained power since the nation declared independence in 1957, were the rising inflation, crime and ethnic tensions.[31]

Malaysia's government and ruling coalition declared defeat in a landslide victory in the by-election by Anwar Ibrahim. Muhammad Muhammad Taib, information chief of the United Malays National Organisation which leads the BN coalition stated: Yes of course we have lost . . . we were the underdogs going into this race.[32] Malaysia's Election Commission officials announced Anwar won by an astounding majority against Arif Shah Omar Shah of National Front coalition and over Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's UMNO.[33] Reuters reported that according to news website Malaysiakini, Anwar Ibrahim had won with a majority of 16,210 votes. He had won 26,646 votes, while BN's Arif Omar won 10,436 votes.[34] Anwar's People's Justice Party's spokeswoman Ginie Lim told BBC: "We won already. We are far ahead".[33]

On 28 August 2008, Anwar, dressed in a dark blue traditional Malay outfit and black "songkok" hat, took the oath at the main chamber of Parliament house in Kuala Lumpur, as MP for Permatang Pauh at 10.03 am before Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia. He formally declared Anwar the leader of the 3-party opposition alliance. With his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and his daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar, also a parliamentarian, Anwar announced: "I'm glad to be back after a decade. The prime minister has lost the mandate of the country and the nation".[35][36] Anwar needed at least 30 government lawmakers especially from Sabah and Sarawak MPs' votes to defect to form a government.[37][38]

In June 2010, Suara Keadilan's publication was suspended for publishing a report which claimed a government agency is bankrupt. Suara Keadilan is run by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's PKR party. The Home Ministry, which oversees Malaysia's newspapers, said it was not satisfied with the paper's explanation for the allegedly inaccurate report.[39]

In 2014, the Party's Strategy Director then Vice-President-cum-Secretary-General, Rafizi Ramli initiated the failed Kajang Move in a bid to topple the 14th Menteri Besar of Selangor, Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, and install the party's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim as his replacement. The political manoeuvre resulted in a nine-month political crisis within the state of Selangor and the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, that also involved the palace of Selangor, a by-election costing RM1.6 million in taxpayers’ money, the party losing one seat in Selangor's assembly and Malaysian Parliament. PKR also ended up not getting the Menteri Besar that it wanted.[40] The crisis concluded with the appointment of PKR's Deputy President, Azmin Ali, as the 15th Menteri Besar of Selangor. Most analysts say that the Kajang Move was a great failure.[41]

On 12 September 2018 the incumbent Danyal Balagopal Abdullah resigned as Member of Parliament for Port Dickson to allow Anwar Ibrahim, who had been granted a royal pardon by the country's monarch the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to re-enter parliament after a 3-year absence. The resignation caused the Port Dickson by-election, 2018 and was dubbed the 'PD Move'. Anwar won the seat with an increased majority against six other candidates.[42]

The 2020 Malaysian political crisis culminated in the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government. The political crisis began when several political forces, including then PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, attempted to form a new government without going through a general election. This was achieved through the withdrawal of BERSATU from the coalition and the exit of Azmin Ali along with 10 other PKR MPs. This deprived the coalition of its majority and paved the way for Muhyiddin Yassin, with the support of the newly formed Perikatan Nasional coalition to form a new government with himself as Prime Minister.

During the political crisis, in a Facebook Live broadcast of a night prayer session at Anwar's residence, Anwar said that he had been informed of a "treachery" having been committed that involved "former friends from Bersatu and a small group from PKR".[43] Later, Azmin, in a statement, claimed that his action was to protect Mahathir, who was forced to choose a date for the transition of power during Pakatan Harapan presidential meeting on 21 February, and the statutory declaration presented to the Agong was to cement support for Mahathir, not to elect a new prime minister.[44] He further said that the real traitor was the faction that tried to usurp Mahathir.[45]

On 24 February 2020, PKR held a press conference where its general secretary, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, announced that Azmin and the Minister of Housing and Local Government, Zuraida Kamaruddin, who was then a vice president of PKR, had been dismissed by the party.[46] Saifuddin explained that they were expelled due to their actions on 23 February which went against the party's official line regarding the position of prime minister.[47] Azmin later announced that he would be forming an independent bloc at the parliament along with Zuraida and other nine MPs who had decided to exit the party following his expulsion.[48]

PKR held a meeting at its headquarters on 1 March 2020.[49] While leaving the headquarters after the meeting ended, members who were associated with the former deputy president Azmin Ali, such as the vice-president Tian Chua and the former party's youth wing deputy chief Afif Bahardin, was harassed and assaulted by PKR supporters. Both were accused of being "traitors". Police later revealed that one arrest had been made in relation to the incident involving Chua, with at least two reports were lodged.[50]

A large number of grassroots members of PKR have left the party since the political crisis started. Three PKR Kelantan branch leaders announced that they were leaving the party on 26 February after Azmin and Zuraida Kamaruddin, the party's vice president, were sacked from their positions and expelled.[51] Around 2,000 members from the Pasir Puteh branch left the party on 28 February, stating that they were disappointed with the party's leadership.[52] 536 members from the Kota Raja branch also left the party on 1 March, citing that they no longer believed in the party's direction.[53] On 2 March, around 400 members of PKR in Perak also left the party, arguing that the party had lost its focus on nation building and was only focused on the transition of power to the party's president, Anwar Ibrahim.[54] This was later followed by the exit of 500 members from the Arau and Padang Besar branches on 15 March. They too cited that they had lost confidence with the party's leadership under Anwar.[55]

On 4 March 2020, Afif Bahardin from PKR resigned from his position in Penang State Executive Council.[56] He stated that he was pressured by the party's state and central leadership to resign from his post.[57] Afif is a known supporter of Azmin Ali while the latter was still the party's deputy president.[58] PKR's Norlela Ariffin was appointed as the new state councillor and was sworn in on 12 March in front of the Yang Dipertua Negeri, Abdul Rahman Abbas.[59][60] Also PKR assemblyman from Pemanis, Chong Fat Full formally announced his exit from his party to become a Perikatan-friendly independent, thus resulting in Perikatan Nasional effectively controlling 29 seats in the state assembly against Harapan's 27.[61]

On 12 May 2020, two PKR assemblymen representing Sidam (Robert Ling Kui Ee) and Lunas (Azman Nasrudin) left the party citing lack of confidence in Anwar and an alleged purge of grassroots members aligned towards Azmin as their reasons, to become independents friendly towards Perikatan Nasional.[62] Later in the day, Kedah state opposition leader Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor announced the formation of a new government with the support of 23 state assemblymen including the two ex-PKR members and four of six Bersatu assemblymen previously aligned with Pakatan Harapan.[63][64]

On 17 May 2020, Srikandi Keadilan Chief, Nurainie Haziqah Shafii exited party. The decision was taken after no longer confident and believing in the idealism of the struggle and the direction of PKR at this time.[65]

On 5 June 2020, Member of Parliament (MP) for Lubok Antu, Jugah Muyang resigned from the PKR and pledged support for Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition. The next day (6 June), Jugah went to the Seri Perdana, the official residence of the prime minister to hand over his support letter to Muhyiddin. On the other hand, an Independent MP, Syed Abu Husin Hafiz, MP for Bukit Gantang was also there to hand over the application form to join and support the Bersatu. Also present were Bersatu MPs Senior Minister for Economy and Minister of International Trade and Industry, Azmin Ali and Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Ali Biju. It was also reported that Jugah was convinced by Azmin to support the ruling PN coalition to empower its administration.[66][67][68]

On June 13, 2020 Dr Daroyah Alwi, Deputy Speaker & EXCO announced that she had quit the PKR party and became an independent assemblyman in support of the Perikatan Nasional coalition. She came out on the grounds that he had "lost confidence in the President (Anwar Ibrahim) and his harpist leadership of the idealism of the struggle".[69]

On 21 June 2020, 50 Johor PKR women leader members exit party after losing faith in the party's top leadership.[70]

On 22 June 2020, 25 PKR grassroots leaders Saratok branch exit party. PKR Saratok branch once led by Ali Biju. They left PKR because they lost confidence in the party.[71]

On 24 June 2020, Afif Bahardin announced his departure from the PKR for joining Malaysian United Indigenous Party.[72]

On 27 June 2020, 19 Jelebu branch PKR Committee members exit party after claiming to have lost faith in the PKR leadership.[73]

On 29 June 2020, PKR Women's chief & EXCO, Hanizah Talha sack from PKR. In 11 July she was no longer State Exco member. Haniza Talha has described PKR's decision to sack her from the party as an “act of revenge”.[74][75][76]

On 30 June 2020, Salleh Said Keruak, former Sabah Minister Chief & former UMNO member canceled his application to join PKR after thinking deeply and taking into account today's political landscape including PKR's internal turmoil. He said, the decision was made last April and with the cancellation he remained non-partisan since leaving UMNO in 2018. Previously, Salleh applied to join PKR in October last year.[77]

On 1 July 2020, Terengganu PKR women chief, Sharifah Norhayati Syed Omar Alyahya exit PKR along with 131 other members. The decision was made after seeing injustice in the party's top leadership.[78]

On 4 July 2020, Zulkifli Ibrahim sacked from PKR and joining Perikatan Nasional (PN). He insisted that the PKR disciplinary committee should have summoned him for investigations before making any decisions.[79] Also, 250 PKR member from Ampang leave the party[80] & 2 PKR councillors quit party (Jess Choy and Shoba Selvarajoo, who is a PKR women's exco). Claimed to have lost confidence in PKR president Anwar Ibrahim and his leadership, citing the “embarrassing” party polls.[81]

On 11 July 2020, almost 100 Anak Muda Keadilan (AMK) Port Dickson members exit PKR. Making The AMK Port Dickson branch is paralyzed. The action was taken as the party was weakening and unable to win seats in the next general election & PKR is too discussing narrow politics just to make PKR President, Anwar Ibrahim as the Prime Minister alone.[82] Fuziah Salleh appointed new PKR women's chief replaces Haniza Talha, who was expelled from the party.[83]

On 15 July 2020 Jempol PKR branch chief, Karip Mohd Salleh along with 25 other members exit party. Making The PKR Jempol branch is dissolved. The decision was made after each of them had lost faith in the party leadership in navigating the leadership ranks either at the federal or state levels.[84]

On 30 July 2020, Inanam assemblyman & Sabah PKR Vice chairman, Kenny Chua Teck Ho sack from PKR for backing Musa[85]

On 9 August 2020, former BERSATU Kuala Krau Division division chief Mohamad Rafidee Hashim left the party and joined Parti Keadilan Rakyat. He said his action to join PKR was because he was confident that the party was more consistent and principled in its efforts to fight for reform.[86]

On 27 and 28 February 2021, two People's Justice Party (PKR) MPs, Tebrau MP Steven Choong and Julau MP Larry Sng become independents and declare support for the ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN) coallition.[87]

On 13 March 2021, PKR vice-president, Dr Xavier Jayakumar suddenly announced that he resigned as both a member and as a party vice-president, citing that he was "extremely frustrated" by the events of the past year. Subsequently, he would become an Independent MP while declaring his full support to Perikatan Nasional's leadership.[88]

PKR has 36 members in the House of Representatives.

State	No.	Parliament Constituency	Member	Party
Perlis	P002	Kangar	Noor Amin Ahmad		PKR
Kedah	P009	Alor Setar	Chan Ming Kai		PKR
	P010	Kuala Kedah	Azman Ismail		PKR
	P014	Merbok	Nor Azrina Surip		PKR
	P015	Sungai Petani	Johari Abdul		PKR
	P017	Padang Serai	Karuppaiya Muthusamy		PKR
	P018	Kulim-Bandar Baharu	Saifuddin Nasution Ismail		PKR
Penang	P044	Permatang Pauh	Nurul Izzah Anwar		PKR
	P052	Bayan Baru	Sim Tze Tzin		PKR
	P053	Balik Pulau	Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik		PKR
Perak	P062	Sungai Siput	Kesavan Subramaniam		PKR
	P071	Gopeng	Lee Boon Chye		PKR
	P077	Tanjong Malim	Chang Lih Kang		PKR
Pahang	P083	Kuantan	Fuziah Salleh		PKR
Selangor	P094	Hulu Selangor	June Leow Hsiad Hui		PKR
	P097	Selayang	William Leong Jee Keen		PKR
	P100	Pandan	Wan Azizah Wan Ismail		PKR
	P104	Subang	Wong Chen		PKR
	P105	Petaling Jaya	Maria Chin Abdullah		PKR
	P107	Sungai Buloh	Sivarasa Rasiah		PKR
	P109	Kapar	Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid		PKR
Kuala Lumpur	P115	Batu	Prabakaran Parameswaran		PKR
	P116	Wangsa Maju	Tan Yee Kew		PKR
	P118	Setiawangsa	Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad		PKR
	P121	Lembah Pantai	Fahmi Fadzil		PKR
Negeri Sembilan	P132	Port Dickson	Anwar Ibrahim		PKR
Malacca	P136	Tangga Batu	Rusnah Aluai		PKR
	P137	Hang Tuah Jaya	Shamsul Iskandar Md. Akin		PKR
Johor	P141	Sekijang	Natrah Ismail		PKR
	P144	Ledang	Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh		PKR
	P151	Simpang Renggam	Maszlee Malik		PKR
	P159	Pasir Gudang	Hassan Abdul Karim		PKR
	P160	Johor Bahru	Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir		PKR
Sabah	P173	Putatan	Awang Husaini Sahari		PKR
	P190	Tawau	Christina Liew Chin Jin		PKR
Sarawak	P219	Miri	Michael Teo Yu Keng		PKR
Total	Perlis (1), Kedah (6), Penang (3), Perak (3), Pahang (1), Selangor (7), F.T. Kuala Lumpur (4), Negeri Sembilan (1), Malacca (2), Johor (5), Sabah (2), Sarawak (1)