By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Nov 28: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) communications chief Fahmi Fadzil and the party’s Julau branch chief Larry Sng have both confirmed that a purported news report of Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian being sacked and replaced by Larry Sng is fake.
Fahmi replied to DayakDaily that the news report is fake, sending a graphic of the fake news with the word “fitnah” (slander) superimposed over it.
“This is an amateurish attempt to sow discord. Those behind this are cowards and political desperados, hoping to drive a wedge within PKR. They and their kind will not succeed,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, Sng revealed to DayakDaily he had checked with New Straits Times (NST) and confirmed that the purported news report was indeed fake.
“I have checked with NST; there is no news as such, so the answer is clear that this is fake news,” Sng emphasised.
A screenshot of an alleged NST story featuring PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim shaking hands with some party members in Sarawak carrying the headline “I will sack Baru Bian, to be replaced with Larry Sng as MPN Chief: Anwar” has been going viral in Sarawak.
The caption of the picture reads: “PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at Sarawak PKR Convention and the party’s 12th state election machinery”.
The screenshot is believed to going viral in reaction to the recent series of events in PKR Sarawak.
The Sarawak PKR leadership faction aligned with Baru had recently butted heads with the party’s top national leadership after its deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali’s invitation to officiate at the PKR Youth National Congress scheduled for Dec 6 was rescinded.
It has been a tradition for the deputy president of the party to grace the National Youth Congress which will be held prior to the main PKR Convention.
To protest, Baru who is Works Minister, as well as Selangau MP and Ba’Kelalan assemblyman, had threatened to cancel the Nov 23 PKR Sarawak Convention in Miri.
He said the state leadership council, which consisted of 46 members, saw 32 members reaching a consensus to cancel the convention.
A statement on Nov 15, signed by Baru and seven others, including Saratok MP and branch chief Ali Biju, emphasised that unless democracy is returned to the party, the state convention would be cancelled.
However, PKR National Convention director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad was reported as refuting this, saying that the convention would go as planned.
On Nov 23 itself, Anwar turned up and graced the Sarawak PKR Convention.
Amid the issue of whether the convention should be held, there was a statement issued by PKR Selangau branch chief Joshua Jabeng, claiming that 18 branches in Sarawak wanted Baru to step down as the chairman of the Sarawak Leadership Council.
However, Baru’s camp refuted the claim and produced proof that 19 branches had expressed their support for his leadership. — DayakDaily
