What Does Rafizi Want Pkr To Be

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“I’m here (in Sarawak) not to beg for votes; that’s everyone’s right. I’m contesting with the awareness that if I win, it will be the end of the world.”
- Incumbent PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli
What is going on in PKR? Normally, when a party throws out such drama, I tend to believe that the party or its leadership is up to something nefarious, and all this is to distract from mendacious deeds behind the scenes.
PKR incumbent deputy president Rafizi Ramli seems to be doing everything to ensure that his bridges are burnt in parti keluarga (family party).
ADSFrom claiming the fix is in when it comes to this election for the second highest post, to the various snubbings of party pow wows, and claiming bots are used much like Umno does to amplify messaging in social media, Rafizi is all over the place in painting why the rakyat should not vote for PKR.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim seems to think that everyone will be kumbaya after these elections, which demonstrates that Anwar either does not know how to read a room or that he is delusional in thinking that this circular firing squad, which involves his offspring, is going to make PKR more credible to the rakyat.
Anwar said, “Let us not add to or raise the heat of this election - let’s resolve things amicably, because even if we differ in opinion on certain matters, we cannot deny the tremendous service and contributions made by these individuals.
PKR president Anwar Ibrahim (right) and party incumbent deputy president Rafizi Ramli“Some of them have sacrificed more and worked harder than us,” – which is a queer thing to say because Rafizi claims Nurul Izzah was revising history when she denied or downplayed his involvement during the 2018 electoral seat negotiations with the old maverick, with Rafizi voluntarily taking on the role as “bad guy”.
And the embattled deputy president makes sense because not only has Rafizi, over the course of his career in PKR, involved himself in various palace intrigues for the benefit of Anwar, the old maverick has publicly stated that Rafizi was rude or some such nonsense.
Frustration with unclear reform agenda
To be honest, everything about this federal government must irk the Pandan MP.
Rafizi, over the years, has made it clear what he thinks of big tent strategies when it comes to winning elections.
Keep in mind the last time in 2022 when Rafizi was vying for the number two spot in PKR, he made it clear that he thought this type of big tent strategy for Malay support was madness:
“Although there are no signs that this ‘big tent’ approach will work, it appears to be the only option considered by Pakatan Harapan’s entire leadership.
“It is as though they have run out of ideas to regain public confidence.”
Here is the thing. I like Rafizi’s bull-in-the-china-shop style of politics. Former US ambassador and Umno big chief Nazri Aziz has the same style. But I do not know what Rafizi wants PKR to be.
ADSIndeed, his detractors have called on him to talk about issues, but I suppose Rafizi would argue that what PKR is, or what it has become, is the issue. Still, I would like to know what the incumbent deputy president wants PKR to be.
Rafizi says less than 30 percent of the Malay polity backs PKR and that the coalition is bleeding non-Malay support. The question is what he thinks are the strategies needed to address these issues.
He also said, “Everyone wants to show Anwar, ‘Datuk Seri, you are great, everything is good’.”
PKR supportersOk, has anyone told the prime minister that the reason why he is losing non-Malay support is because of all the Malay uber alles things he’s doing, which antagonise the base that put him in power?
Has anyone told him that Umno is running riot with its Youth chief, Dr Akmal Saleh, defining the racial and religious narrative of this government that makes Anwar look weak to the Malays?
More people believe that the prime minister views PKR as a placeholder for Umno than that Harapan wants to carry out reforms.
And keep in mind that this bodek (apple polisher) culture has got Rafizi into trouble with the Big Cheese of PKR before. Three years ago, Rafizi warned of a bodek culture that was seeping through PKR.
“What is important for the party and the new leadership is not really to try to physically ‘bodek’ Anwar or defend Anwar. Anwar Ibrahim is Anwar Ibrahim, he doesn’t need to be defended.
“What we need to do is to appeal to the people and try to win again,” Rafizi said.
And how did Anwar respond?
“He knows his focus, his role. He is no longer Rafizi di pinggiran (on the sideline).
“The person you were talking about just now is Rafizi di pinggiran. Today’s Rafizi is in the party’s top leadership.”
Internal dysfunction, uncertain goals
And it is funny because Nurul Izzah talked about the youth vote and yes, the prime minister in the past has acknowledged that he is not attracting the youth vote as before - “Of course, I do not have the strength to attract youth’s support, unlike 40 years ago.”
But here is the thing. What is PKR offering to youths that is different from what Perikatan Nasional is offering?
Rafizi talks about a luxury culture seeping into PKR. He talks about how new members are only there for the positions and perks. But here is the thing. All this happened under Anwar’s watch.
PKR membersPerhaps if Rafizi had support, we would not have all these opportunists infecting the party. Honestly, all those reformasi stalwarts who were claiming that Anwar had changed were correct, but unfortunately, they were shouted down.
Rafizi said, “Over the years, Anwar has been given the power as the party president to allow any new party member to contest in an election despite not meeting the one-year minimum requirement, and Rafizi has publicly said he wants to end this power.
The question is, how much sway do these opportunists have over the party and over the prime minister?
What is PKR fighting for?
What is PKR really fighting for? PKR is now in the position to offer the bounties of government to the flotsam and jetsam of the Malay political establishment. People are essentially fighting over positions in a moribund political party, which may very well be wiped out in the next general election.
Sure, they may cling on to power in various states, but the reality is that if by now PKR has not got a grip on what it is and what it hopes to achieve, this may very well be the death knell of the party.
And haven’t we all heard this before? Anwar and his second-in-command sniping behind the scenes before it becomes public?
PKR supporters and their proxies in the media have to take sides, while the situation in the country gets worse.
This, in turn, creates the optics that, as the “Malay” vote-getter in Harapan, PKR is failing miserably, which then allows detractors to wallow in the kind of racism, especially on social media, which feeds into the narratives of the Malay uber alles parties.
Maybe Rafizi has defined what PKR is or has become, three years ago when he said this - “This whole idea that you bring someone to the top that he becomes a messiah, we have seen this for decades, and that is the reason we are in trouble now.”
By his speeches, Rafizi has defined this fight as one between himself and Anwar, with Nurul Izzah as a proxy for the latter. It remains to be seen even if Rafizi wins, what kind of PKR he would be leading. - Mkini
S THAYAPARAN is commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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