Rafizi expects GE15 to be held in four months

KUALA LUMPUR: PKR’s Rafizi Ramli has predicted that the 15th General Election will be held in four months.

The party’s deputy president aspirant cited several reasons for this, chief among them being the government’s MOU on cooperation with Pakatan Harapan, which states that Parliament will not be dissolved before July 31, and the close of the haj pilgrimage that month.

“Four months is a short time (from now). And I won’t be surprised if it is held in August or September.

“If I’m in Umno, I’d call for the general election to be held by the end of July,” he told senior media editors at a Concorde Club forum on Thursday (March 31).

Rafizi recently announced that he would contest the party’s No. 2 post in the PKR polls scheduled in May.

The announcement took many by surprise as the former Pandan MP had chosen to take a break from active politics in 2019 despite being a party vice-president.

Others described it as injecting optimism into the party, which had performed poorly in the Sabah, Melaka, Sarawak and Johor state elections.

Rafizi, 45, had contested and lost the deputy presidency to the party’s then incumbent Datuk Seri Azmin Ali in 2018.

On latest developments concerning himself and the party, he declared that he was ready to contest in Pandan again if given the nod.

“Politicians must be focused on serving the people. It is usually politicians vying for party posts so that they can land government posts.

“Most are not interested in serving the people. That should not be the case,” he added.

Rafizi said he had received encouraging response since announcing his intention to contest the deputy presidency, adding that his Ayuh Malaysia campaign launched on Saturday was picking up steam.

He said the movement was launched to draw the support of fence-sitters in preparation for GE15.

It is also to encourage more people who are eager for change to come forward and serve as volunteers, he added.