PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli (pic) has declared his intention to defend his PKR deputy president post, adding that he is receptive to talk going around that Nurul Izzah Anwar is also interested in the position.
“I am open to news that Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Nurul Izzah are interested in contesting the post.
“I’ve said early on that everyone has the right to go for it in the spirit of democracy,” he said.
Rafizi, who is Economy Minister, said he had met with party president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Saifuddin Nasution separately over the past week in which he told them that he was prepared not to defend the No. 2 post and not be a part of the Cabinet.
“This is so that I could focus on the grassroots. My worry is centred on the current situation in which government campaigns are seen to be too defensive, unlike PKR when it was in the Opposition.
“My position as a minister has led to me being tied up to the government’s consensus, thus making it difficult for me to voice freely, unlike before,” he said.
However, he said that both Anwar and Saifuddin Nasution, who is Home Minister, were of the view that he should remain in the Cabinet, as well as to contest the No. 2 post.
In a lengthy statement issued just a day before nomination begins for PKR’s central-level party polls, Rafizi also explained that he had taken leave from April 29 to May 5.
(There had been news reports about him missing in action over the past few days.)
During his four-day leave, Rafizi said he had held many meetings to address issues that came about after the recent party’s division elections, particularly allegations of irregularities after the unexpected losses of several senior leaders.
The contest for the party’s 20-member central leadership council and six top posts is slated for May 23.
Nominations take place today and tomorrow.
PKR’s national congress will be held from May 22 to May 24 in Johor Baru.
Rafizi said he can return to being a grassroots leader if he did not win.
“If I am elected, I can continue to play a part in the party leadership as the deputy president and through the government,” he said.
