Pkr S Deep Dark Descent Into The Abyss

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It’s not so much that Rafizi Ramli lost the position for deputy president in the PKR polls, but the way that he lost it.
The return of money politics and other manoeuvres shows PKR is descending into a deep, dark abyss, which may be near impossible to climb out of.
If it is not remedied in its infancy, then it is hard to see how the party can uphold its original purpose on reformasi principles of fairness, a voice for the people, and fighting for the rights and privileges of the rakyat, regardless of race or religion, amongst others.
This is what captured the imagination of the people who saw the across-the-board support for PKR and its allies in Pakatan Harapan, resulting in a resounding victory in the 2018 general election, finally consigning Umno/BN to ignominious defeat following 61 years of uninterrupted power.
ADSBut this has crumbled first under Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s second reign and then, ironically, with the rise of Anwar Ibrahim to become prime minister over two years ago. His all-consuming purpose seems to be a second term as prime minister.
For that, he has struck an unholy alliance with Umno/BN, pandering more and more to their requirements and to the Malay supremacy crowd, ignoring the frequent promises made by him and his party to all Malaysians, betraying PKR’s multiracial, multicultural approach to a future Malaysia.
PKR president Anwar Ibrahim (left) and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at the Umno general assembly, June 9, 2023.The one man who stood in his way and who could do something about it was Rafizi. There is little doubt now that a decision had been made to remove him from the stage through means that, although not illegal, were decidedly devious to advance Anwar’s ambition.
Lulled into complacency
Although some wanted him to do so, Rafizi never showed any inclination to go for the top position at the PKR polls - Anwar was preferable to others. He was lulled into complacency, believing Anwar that there would be no contest for the top.
The potent signs of change were there when Fuziah Salleh became PKR’s new secretary-general. In December last year, she announced a complicated new system of delegates voting for the top positions of president, deputy president, and four vice presidents, instead of direct voting by all members since 2010.
The old system remained for the election of delegates, where the membership voted directly for them. The complicated new system, which can be viewed in PKR’s new constitution, applied for the top positions, and included proportional representation for delegates to nominate their own representatives.
Removal of direct voting
Many expressed their disappointment with this system, which removed direct voting for top positions, making it possible for a relatively smaller number of delegates of up to 30,000 to be influenced, instead of a party membership of about one million. This makes the process more susceptible to money politics.
There is a two-step process involved. One is the issue of the cut-off time when new members can vote, which was set for mid-December last year. It would have been possible for those in the know to infiltrate new members into key divisions before the date.
PKR delegatesThe other is the question of exemptions for people to stand for elections. This needed the approval of the president, Anwar, who admitted that he gave blanket approval for names submitted by the headquarters - a rather unusual move which gave newcomers a major leg-up to contest.
“If I approved some but rejected others, that would be a problem. So, everything that came to my desk, once the headquarters vetted, whether the person was bankrupt or had misconduct issues, I approved them all. So, there’s no issue,” he said.
ADSWhen the results of divisional elections indicated that the results were not going as expected, deviating from the norm, Rafizi complained about this and said the power given to the president must be revoked.
He proposed instead a five-year membership before members could take part in elections. He took particular issue with R Ramanan, a former MIC treasurer who had a meteoric rise in PKR.
“Some party outsiders asked how a former MIC treasurer who had resigned only six months prior (could join our party), and in about two years as a member, he was given a safe parliamentary seat to contest.
“Less than a year after that, he gets appointed as deputy minister. All these happened in fewer than four years after he joined the party. And now he wants to be a vice-president in the party. Why is this happening? This was because he was given an exception,” Rafizi said.
Rapid rise of Ramanan
Ramanan was given the safe seat of Sungai Buloh to contest in 2022, after he joined PKR in 2020, replacing veteran politician Sivarasa Rasiah, a move which raised eyebrows as no one had been given such a prominent seat in that short time before.
He narrowly retained the seat against Umno’s Khairy Jamaluddin, compared to a much larger victory previously. He is now entrepreneur development and cooperatives deputy minister. He recently won one of PKR’s four vice-president posts with the second-highest number of votes.
Newly elected PKR vice-president R RamananHe had to defend himself against allegations of money politics when a video of him giving money to a person circulated. He claimed it was a 2023 video which showed him giving money to an employee.
It’s abundantly clear, therefore, that all is not well with PKR’s election system, and it is plainly open to abuse. If measures are taken now to close off the loopholes, it will disadvantage Rafizi and allies who can’t easily fill the party with new members and those who can stand for elections.
The one victory for the Rafizi faction, if one can call it that, is that Anwar loyalist, right-wing Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, withdrew from the deputy president’s race, giving Anwar’s daughter Nurul Izzah an easy passage to victory.
Thus, if Anwar should step down from active politics, the next successor will not be a man who is close to Umno. Both Nurul Izzah and Rafizi are strong advocates of reformasi, and there are opportunities to team up if Anwar is no longer in the picture.
There is a chance, with the help of providence, for reformasi to become a rallying cry for PKR again. Impossible? No. Likely? No. Too much water has flowed under the proverbial bridge. - Mkini
P GUNASEGARAM says Malaysian politics is getting increasingly difficult to predict.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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