KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should evaluate his leadership style, while his advisers must also be willing to offer constructive criticism, former PKR leader Chua Tian Chang said.
The ex-party vice-president, better known as Tian Chua, said while every leader had their own weaknesses, Anwar should not bear sole responsibility, as those who surround the top leadership must also speak up and complement his shortcomings.
“I don’t put all the burden on Anwar…(senior) advisors may not be around all the time.
“Whether it’s Anwar, whether it’s (Tun) Dr Mahathir (Mohamad), whether it’s Pak Lah (the late Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi), I think the people surrounding the powerful are equally responsible to do their job,” Tian Chua said on the latest episode of Trick Lama.
“If Anwar has a short(coming), you have to complement it. If Anwar has a mistake, you have to criticise it,” he told the podcast co-hosted by Big Boom Media Group Chief Executive Officer Datuk Zainul Arifin, Group Editor-in-Chief Terence Fernandez and Group Executive Director Datuk “Rocky” Ahiruddin Attan.
Tian Chua was asked if Anwar should evaluate his leadership style as well as his closest advisors, as PKR’s history showed that many of his “lieutenants and close allies” had quit the party.
Tian Chua recently rejoined PKR, following Anwar’s open invitation to former PKR veterans to return to the party.
He said a leader’s willingness to listen to criticism and different views was important. He cited Dr Mahathir as an example of a leader who was willing to listen when challenged.
The former Batu MP said he experienced this when Dr Mahathir was prime minister a second time after Pakatan Harapan won the general election in 2018 and formed the federal government.
“When we worked with Mahathir in 2018, I found (that) a lot of times, when we advised him , he actually listened.”
The same principle should apply to Anwar, he added, with those around the prime minister playing their part in governance.
“If you surround the number one (leader), you must also play your role.
“Hopefully, this sort of collective consciousness can be more entrenched, so that we can protect the institution better,” said Tian Chua who was sacked from PKR in late 2022 for contesting as an independent candidate in Batu against the party.
Tian Chua, who was a social activist and part of the Reformasi movement before PKR was formed, was among Anwar’s early allies who eventually left PKR. Another individual from that time was Ezam Mohd Nor who was Anwar’s former political secretary.
Other allies who fell out with Anwar and left for other parties include Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin and Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah.
More recently, former deputy president Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and Wong Chen have also left PKR for new political party, Bersama. – September 5, 2026