KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 — Former PKR MP Rafizi Ramli today announced his comeback to active politics.
Once seen as PKR’s rising star, Rafizi, who withdrew from active politics in 2019, today said he is returning to the political arena to help his party and the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition draw more supporters for the next general election.
The former Pandan MP said that he would also be running for the position of PKR deputy president in the coming party elections in April.
“In my view, with the latest developments, multi-racial progressive politics is in jeopardy if PKR and PH continue to be the third coalition after failing to lure voters who are on the fence.
“On that realisation, I have decided to return to politics, and that I will be running for deputy president of PKR in the next party elections,” he said in a statement.
The 44-year-old said the recent Johor state election confirmed that PKR and PH have fallen behind Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) in terms of their public standing as the Opposition coalition was devoid of new strategies to win the hearts of Malaysians.
“The only strategy that is always repeated is the ‘big tent’ approach to unite all parties competing with Umno/BN. Recently, I was informed that the PH Presidential Council has agreed to take an approach to discuss with PN on the possibility of cooperating in the 15th General Election (GE15).
“Although there is no sign that this ‘big tent’ approach will yield any results, it remains the only way the PH leadership thinks, as if the entire leadership has lost its mind to regain the confidence of the people,” he said.
He said that PH had won the 14th General Election due to the impact of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration and that the people were also pulled by some of the solutions brought in to solve the economic problem faced at the time.
He said the string of events that took place after GE14 had convinced some voters that politicians only cared about distributing power among themselves.
“Neither of any political coalition in power, ultimately, will change their (the people) lives. What changes is just who becomes a minister and gets the privilege that comes with the position.
“That's why Umno/BN can win in style while the support of the people at the ballot box hasn't changed much since 2018,” he said, adding that voters who were on the fence also felt that PKR and PH were no different from BN or PN.
“They are nauseous with political issues because there are no significant differences,” he said.
Rafizi said that PH’s view of working with PN for GE15 would only make a fool of the Opposition coalition.
“In the eyes of these politicians, it is a strategy to increase the chances of winning an election. In the eyes of the common people, Malaysian politics has become the drama of Keluarga 69 as the late P. Ramlee once described.
“Unfortunately, from one tent to another, the bigotry to this political coalition strategy has further distanced PKR and PH from the people. When today we criticise and then the next day we work with the person we criticise, the people feel this is all just a Keluarga 69 drama.
“Moreover, when too much focus is given to forming a coalition, efforts to lift people's suffering and offer solutions become increasingly less,” he said.
He said that he has been constantly urged by supporters of PKR and PH from among the rakyat to return to the political arena since he left, but took a long time because he was not convinced that he could help as his view was the minority among PH leaders.
“If PKR and PH want to win back the people's hearts, go back to fighting hard to make it easier for the people's daily lives. Don’t just point fingers, bring sensible solutions to convince the people that their lives can be better if they choose PKR and PH.
“This kind of effort is more tiring than discussing at the negotiating table or in an expensive restaurant about political affiliation. That's why I understand why it's easier to choose the path of political affiliation than to win the hearts of the people,” he said.
Rafizi, formerly a close confidante and adviser of Anwar, formally announced his withdrawal from active politics in 2019.
The former Pandan MP is known for exposing several corruption scandals involving the previous BN government.
His Pandan seat was contested by Anwar’s wife and then PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in the 2018 general election.
PKR will be holding an internal election in April to decide the party’s leadership from 2022 to 2025. Its national congress is slated to take place on June 10 to 12.
Nominations for the party polls will be open from March 11 to 19 and PKR will hold online voting for the first time.
