Tian Chua: Even Azmin knows I wasn’t in his faction

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PKR’s Tian Chua denies ever being a part of former party deputy president Azmin Ali’s faction when the latter was still in the Anwar Ibrahim-led party, according to a report.

Tian Chua, who is contesting the Batu seat as an independent candidate, told The Vibes he had only aligned himself to Azmin during PKR’s 2018 party election, backing the former Gombak MP for the deputy president’s post.

“Azmin was the (Selangor) menteri besar before that and he was already PKR deputy president. We had just captured federal power, and the party needed stability.

“So, I said very firmly that I would support him. That is the truth. I will not deny that. But for people to label me as (being a part of) Azmin’s faction because of that, I think that is very unfair.

FMT

“I was never considered part of Azmin’s faction. Even Azmin himself knows that,” he was quoted as saying by The Vibes.

He also claimed that “simplistic journalism” was what led to him being linked to Azmin’s faction in the party.

Tian Chua, a former PKR vice-president, had opted against seeking re-election to the post during the party’s elections earlier this year.

He had been viewed as being a close ally of Azmin who led a group of PKR members out of the party, eventually joining Bersatu.

After the Pakatan Harapan government fell in 2020, Tian Chua was hit with bottles and blows, and heckled by an angry crowd of supporters as he left a PKR top leadership meeting on March 1.

The political upheaval saw Azmin and Zuraida Kamaruddin being sacked from PKR, while Saifuddin Abdullah, Baru Bian, Kamaruddin Jaffar, Mansor Othman, Rashid Hasnon, Edmund Santhara Kumar, Ali Biju, Willie Mongin and Jonathan Yasin left the party in support of Azmin. – FMT