PKR needs to look beyond popularity and strengthen its grassroots machinery if it wants to turn public support into electoral victories, said its Youth chief Muhammad Kamil Abdul Munim.
Kamil said the party’s grassroots strength remained insufficient to secure victories despite its experience in several elections, including those in Sabah, Johor and Negeri Sembilan. He said the outcome should prompt PKR to reflect on whether its current efforts were enough to sustain its reform agenda.
Addressing the 19th PKR National Congress on Friday, Kamil acknowledged that members were attending the gathering with mixed emotions, including concerns and disappointment following the party’s recent electoral setbacks.
He said such challenges were part of the difficult journey faced by the party and should instead encourage members to examine their performance, identify weaknesses and consider what more could be done to keep the reform movement alive.
Kamil also stressed that PKR must adapt after becoming part of the government, saying the political challenges faced by the party while in opposition were different from those it encountered as part of the administration.
He called for the party to refresh its political approach, strategy and organisational efforts so they could become more systematic, structured and targeted. Kamil also urged members not to lose hope, saying the public had delivered a clear message that required the party to rise again and reconnect with voters.
According to Kamil, PKR’s political journey showed that setbacks could eventually be followed by major breakthroughs. He cited the party’s difficult period in 2004 before it helped create a political wave in 2008 that denied Barisan Nasional its two-thirds parliamentary majority.
He noted that a decade later, in 2018, the opposition coalition succeeded in ending UMNO-Barisan Nasional’s rule at the federal level for the first time. Kamil said the party should draw strength from that history rather than be discouraged by its present challenges.
“Do not worry and do not be sad. Strengthen our spirit, determination and resolve,” he said, expressing confidence that PKR could achieve another major political breakthrough for justice and Malaysians within the next decade.
