Youth vice-chief: Azmin sat on invite for more than a month

The invitation letter to PKR deputy president Azmin Ali to officiate next month's Youth wing congress was sent to him on Sept 11.

However, the wing's vice-chief Syed Badli Shah Syed Osman (above) claimed there was no response from Azmin until Oct 20, when the PKR Youth leadership council held its monthly meeting.

"The secretariat informed (during the meeting) that there was no official response from the deputy president.

"The unanimous decision to invite Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (to officiate the congress) was made at this meeting attended by 30 council members," he added in a statement this evening.

Yesterday, Azmin's political aide Hilman Idham told Malaysiakini the economic affairs minister was informed that the invitation has been rescinded via a letter on Oct 22.

Earlier today, Azmin told reporters he had accepted the invitation before it was cancelled.

Meanwhile, Syed Badli also dismissed the deputy president's claim that the invitation was revoked in an attempt to silence him as "nonsensical".

He also commented on Azmin (photo) claiming PKR Youth chief Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir would not have the courage to cancel the invitation and is convinced of hidden hands making the call.

"This is a shallow statement which should not be made by a deputy president," said Syed Badli.

The vice-chief argued that it is pointless to blow the issue out of proportion, especially at a time when Pakatan Harapan is facing a by-election in Tanjung Piai, Johor.

"Inviting the deputy president to officiate the congress is just tradition and this is not the first time PKR Youth has invited someone else to do so.

"As a senior PKR Youth leader, I humbly request Azmin to attend the congress to show respect for the former PKR president (Wan Azizah) and deputy prime minister.

"I also urge PKR Youth to stop squabbling over trivial issues and focus on the main agenda of strengthening the Harapan coalition," he added.

All Youth state chiefs back move to invite Wan Azizah

In a related development, all PKR Youth state chiefs issued a joint statement this evening supporting the move to invite Wan Azizah.

This comes a day after 21 elected PKR Youth national committee members issued a joint statement criticising the move to revoke Azmin's invitation.

The state chiefs believe that all aspects were taken into consideration before inviting Wan Azizah (below) to officiate the congress.

"This is also a recognition of Wan Azizah's contributions as the PKR leader since 1998," they added.

Wan Azizah vacated the post for her husband Anwar Ibrahim after the latter was released from prison last year.

The state chiefs, who are all appointed by Akmal, said the wing's regulations empowered the PKR Youth leadership council to conduct all matters related to the organising of the congress.

"There is no clause which states that certain individuals must be invited to officiate the congress," they added.

The statement was inked by Yuneswaran Ramaraj (Johor), Naim Brundage (Federal Territories), Muhd Hafiz Muhd Kasasi (Kelantan), Prasanth Kumar Brakasam (Malacca) Nor Azam Karap (Perlis), Fahmi Zainol (Penang), Saifunnizam Sam (Sarawak), Mohd Mustaqim Abdul Jalil (Pahang), Ahmad Izzuddin Ismail (Negeri Sembilan), Mohamad Hairul Amir Sabri (Perak), Najwan Halimi (Selangor), Mohd Huzaifah Md Suhaimi (Terengganu), Raymond Ahuar (Sabah) and Mohammed Firdaus Johari (Kedah).