Rafizi Morphing Into Pkr S Conscience Is Welcome

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 A confluence of events has resulted in former economy minister Rafizi Ramli becoming the de facto conscience of PKR.
And it is turning out for the better, perhaps not for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, but for the increasing numbers of those concerned with the country’s direction.
Not that he was not much of a minister - he actually did a fair amount at what was a lame-duck ministry with few powers except for what was occasionally dished out by the PM to keep him occupied and out of “mischief”.
The breaking point for Rafizi as minister came when unseen hands interfered in the PKR election.
ADSEventually, he was ousted under questionable circumstances as deputy president of PKR in party polls, being defeated by the PM’s daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar.
PKR’s Rafizi Ramli and Nurul Izzah AnwarA formidable critic
He has now emerged as a formidable internal critic of Anwar and his policies. This transformation marks a new, contentious chapter in his political career. It raises questions about the stability and future direction of PKR and the ruling coalition.
The clear turning point in Rafizi's career came with the PKR party election in May. In the wake of his defeat, Rafizi resigned as minister in June.
He said it was a matter of principle after he lost his mandate within the party to step down from a government position.
Anwar’s descent into an Umno state of mind, where he dithered over crucial appointments to the judiciary, was partly responsible for Rafizi becoming PKR’s conscience after he resigned from the cabinet.
The first issue that Rafizi chose was judicial independence, roping in eight other PKR MPs into his fold to demand a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to investigate the issue and the alleged interference of a Federal Court judge in the selection process. Anwar was away at a Brics conference at that time.
Rafizi with other PKR MPs during a press conference calling for an RCI last weekFocus on judicial appointments
Lawyers finished their march yesterday for judicial independence, adding to the amount of public attention which has been focused on the issue as Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat stepped down as chief justice when Anwar did not extend her tenure by six months, usually done for such positions.
With other key members already having stepped down and more scheduled, it was puzzling why Anwar did not do so to at least temporarily forestall a huge lacuna in the top courts.
Freed from the constraints of a cabinet collective now, Rafizi has adopted a more adversarial stance, which has raised public consciousness more than anything else that has been done to date.
In addition to the call for an RCI, Rafizi has publicly criticised last-minute alterations to the 13th Malaysia Plan, a long-term economic blueprint that he had overseen during his time as minister.
ADSHe has suggested that the government is making hasty, politically motivated decisions in response to social media pressure, potentially compromising the plan's integrity.
Rafizi's new role is a necessary one, although he was forced into it by a clear attempt to dilute his influence in the party and put a more acceptable person to Umno and other coalition partners as a successor to Anwar.
Anwar’s deviations
With the PM deviating far from the reformist policies of PKR and moving increasingly towards the demands of its partner Umno, many see Anwar deviating from PKR’s original policies, which brought the party into a position of power and influence.
PM Anwar Ibrahim and DPM Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who is also Umno presidentThey see him as increasingly making more and more concessions to Umno, a racist communal party, instead of the more appealing and inclusive PKR stance.
Rafizi out of the cabinet is much more outspoken and plays an effective role as PKR’s conscience.
But his new-found role as a critic of the government is also a loss to the government.
As the economy minister, he spearheaded several ambitious initiatives aimed at restructuring the Malaysian economy and providing targeted aid, but the crucial implementation was left to others to do, leaving him toothless most of the time.
These included the People's Income Initiative (IPR), designed to boost the income of low-earning households, and the controversial Central Database Hub (Padu), a system created to consolidate citizen data for better subsidy targeting.
The implementation of Padu faced public resistance over data privacy concerns, and the IPR initiative was criticised for lacking effective on-the-ground outreach, particularly in rural areas like Sabah.
While part of the criticism may be valid, it came under heavy criticism by those who did not want to see Padu implemented because it required detailed information disclosure to ensure that those who were given subsidies deserved them, instead of the prevailing system which had many holes.
He was also brought in to flesh out the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ), a project aimed at attracting significant Singaporean investment into the zone located in Johor.
Rafizi’s new role
Right now, Rafizi’s new role, forced upon him by circumstances related to Anwar’s actions, is likely much more important than his truncated ministerial ones, which gave him little in terms of execution.
If he had been given more important roles to reflect his position then as PKR number two and Anwar’s eventual successor, such as one of the deputy prime ministers and finance minister concurrently, all these would likely not have happened and PKR’s more broad-based ideology would have been more intact.
However, that would be out of character for Anwar as the person we now know he is, shaped and still moulded by Umno and its ways of cunning, subterfuge and self-interest to hold on to power at all costs.
In that light, all that is happening now must be seen as inevitable. - Mkini
P GUNASEGARAM says that holding the government to account comes with some costs even if it is far more beneficial in the long term.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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