PKR infighting had created the instability which led to the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government, admitted party vice-president Tian Chua.
He said PKR had always been a diverse party where differing viewpoints were the norm. However, they had always been united by a common enemy, that is Umno and BN.
However, he said the situation deteriorated after PKR and Pakatan Harapan won the 2018 general election.
“We couldn’t heal the divide, because of a loss of trust between the leaders,” he said in an interview with Sinar Harian.
PKR had been deeply divided between those loyal to party president Anwar Ibrahim, and his estranged deputy Azmin Ali.
Last week Azmin and 10 other PKR MPs joined forces with Bersatu to stage a coup which led to the Harapan government’s collapse.
Two of the MPs appear to have backtracked while Azmin and the others joined Bersatu and are now part of the Perikatan Nasional coalition headed by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, which includes Umno and PAS.
Chua, who was aligned to Azmin, said he had tried to unite the warring factions but failed.
“I have to admit my efforts did not succeed. I truly regret it and am disappointed. I was part of the problem and could not put forward a good solution.
“I feel responsible,” he said.
He said the unchecked animosity between the two sides had led to the unrest outside the PKR headquarters on Saturday.
There, leaders aligned to Azmin had been harrassed by angry PKR members, with Chua himself being struck by one member.
However, the former Batu MP said this was a small incident that he did not wish to enlarge.
Chua also said that he remained a PKR member, and that he personally had no conflict with Anwar.
Moving forward, Chua said with the voting age lowered to 18, the era of heroes from the past are over.
“People won’t remember how Tian Chua fought the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) or how Dr Mahathir Mohamad toppled BN.
“There will be new leaders, and they will determine the future,” he said.
He cited how Indonesian president Joko Widodo was not one of the Reformasi-era heroes who brought down the Soeharto dictatorship, but a new leader with a new vision for the country.
Chua deflected a question on whether the actions of his former allies in PKR, Azmin Ali and Zuraida Kamaruddin, over the last week had strayed from the reform agenda.
Instead, he answered that the new government’s future and direction are unclear.
“We can’t see a clear direction. I can’t judge whether this new government will even happen. We don’t know because in Parliament there will be a challenge to see whether Muhyiddin Yassin has the majority to continue as prime minister.
“Whether this new cabinet will include those who before this was perceived to have abused their power, be involved in corruption, will return to the leadership line-up, we don’t know that yet,” Chua said.
Chua said that regardless of who is in power, the reform agenda initiated by Harapan in 2018 must continue.
He said those who received the people’s mandate to form the government in 2018, must also not be excluded from the “administrative formula”.
“(Not including them) would be a denial of the voter’s rights.
“I am stern in this, whatever administrative formula, whether it is led by Muhyiddin or Mahathir, must absorb the group which received the people’s mandate in the last election.
“They are the parties that were chosen by the people,” he said.
Chua, during the interview, had expressed support for Mahathir’s vision to form a non-partisan government.
Asked a hypothetical question on who he would back in a no-confidence vote, the former Batu MP said as a PKR member, he will support Mahathir.