Anina Saadudin quits PPBM
Sheith Khidhir Bin Abu Bakar | September 16, 2017
The PPBM founding member casts doubt about the party’s struggle for the people, saying it may have become a platform for those wanting to keep their political careers alive.
BANGI: Anina Saadudin broke down in tears today as she announced her resignation from PPBM, the party she helped found a year ago in September 2016.
The former Langkawi Umno member claimed that she was informed in a crude manner about being fired as the PPBM women’s chief in December and as supreme council member later, by simply being kicked out of the PPBM supreme council members’ WhatsApp chat group.
She was also not even given a formal invitation to PPBM’s first anniversary celebration on Sept 9, she added.
She said the way she was treated in the party helped her in making the decision to quit.
Anina also said she never received any official letter about the decisions to remove her from the posts.
“In contrast, when I sued the Umno president, my membership (in Umno) was automatically terminated and even then Umno sent me an official letter,” she told reporters at her residence in Bandar Baru Bangi here today.
“A party that struggles for the Malays must also portray the culture and manners of the Malays but this is how this party works – rudely and crudely.”
Anina also took a swipe at PPBM’s secretary-general Shahruddin Md Salleh.
Shahruddin had claimed on Dec 26 that the party had not yet set up the women’s wing, and therefore the issue of Anina being removed from the post did not arise.
“I dare say that the secretary-general is not fit nor does he have the qualifications to be the secretary-general, and if what I say is not true then sue me,” she said.
Saying that she was concerned about the direction in which PPBM was heading, she questioned whether the party was still struggling for the people or had become a platform for those who wanted to keep their political careers alive.
“PPBM now has this assumption that those who criticise the party are criticising (party chairman) Dr Mahathir Mohamad and that this is wrong.
“Does this mean that the party is here to struggle for Dr Mahathir instead of the people?” she asked.
Also present were fellow PPBM founding member Kamarulzaman Habibul Rahman, who left the party in April, and former PPBM women’s wing assistant secretary Hasnita Hishamudin who quit two days ago.
“The party was formed to provide a better political alternative,” Kamarulzaman said.
“The landscape has changed since it became clear that the red carpet was laid out for those who have been at the top for too long and those who are so accustomed to cronyism that they’ve forgotten how to fight for the people,” he said.
Anina also said she would continue her struggle through an NGO which she will head and which is currently awaiting approval from the Registrar of Societies (ROS).
The NGO will focus on matters relating to the economic conditions of the people but will not stray far from politics, she said
“Once my NGO is registered, I challenge PPBM president Muhyiddin Yassin and PPBM deputy president Mukhriz Mahathir to a debate on any current issue,” she added.
Asked why she did not want to form another party, Anina pointed out that Malaysia already had five major parties – PPBM, Umno, PAS, Amanah and PKR – for the Malays.
Earlier this month, Anina, whose membership number was 0000005, had questioned if PPBM had forgotten her even though she was one of the seven founding members, in not inviting her for the first anniversary event.
“If even I am forgotten, what more the numerous people who have put in a lot of effort into the party’s struggle over the past two years,” she said.
She was also said to have been appointed as the head of PPBM’s women’s wing on Nov 2 last year, at the same event where the party announced its supreme council members.
