Pakatan won’t work with PN in GE15, says Rafizi

SEREMBAN: Pakatan Harapan will not work with Perikatan Nasional to face Barisan Nasional in the 15th General Elections (GE15), says Rafizi Ramli.

The PKR deputy president said this was decided by the Pakatan allies during a meeting held last week.

"The word is noktah (fullstop). We had already decided at our last meeting that we will campaign as Pakatan.

"We are aware of the public sentiment and the rakyat really wants someone who will fight for them. This is not only about power," he said.

Rafizi said it was pointless to form pacts only when the general election was near.

He said it had also been the foundation of Pakatan and PKR to always get the involvement of all races in whatever that was carried out.

It didn't make sense, he said, for parties which had been at odds and busy attacking one another for a long time to form pacts just before the general election.

This, he said, gave an impression that they were only interested in becoming ministers and this was being disrespectful to the rakyat.

"Perikatan has also prior to this said that their aim was to become a party which better represented the Malays than Umno and Barisan and that Pakatan was not Malay enough.

"But we in Pakatan want to get all races involved in whatever we do and what was more important to us was to elect leaders who are honest and good when it comes to administering the country.

"Our paths are different so as of now, there is no such thing as working together," he said.

Rafizi said this at the Jelajah Trak Ayuh Malaysia event held near the Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium last night.

Prior to this, Perikatan Nasional chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Perikatan was considering whether to work with Pakatan in the upcoming GE15.

The Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) president added that this would avoid clashes between the two coalitions and ensure a straight fight with Barisan in the election.

He said there have not been any meetings with Pakatan but there have been some initiatives taken by certain quarters to discuss how Perikatan and Pakatan will be able to avoid clashes with one another in GE15.

Rafizi said Pakatan will not work with PN if the sole objective was to topple Barisan.

"We have learnt our lesson previously and the rakyat knows this.

"Why use this reason to defeat Barisan when our thought and policies are not the same.

"If this happens, the incoming government will again be unstable," he said.

Rafizi said Pakatan had always been an Opposition and had no problem remaining one.

He said since he was a young leader, some also perceived him to be an inexperienced politician.

"Some say that people like me do not know the art of politics but once we make a decision, that is it. We don't make U-turns,” he said.

He said holding on to one's idealism was more important than winning or losing and this has always been PKR's belief.

However, Rafizi said he was in no position to speak on behalf of PKR's allies Parti Amanah Negara and DAP.

"They have senior leaders with decades of experience.

"All I can tell is that Pakatan has made a decision and that it was a fullstop," he added.