Rafizi to resign from Cabinet?

IT was an election where the winner seemed more stressed-out than the loser.

The pressure of the past few weeks was evident as Nurul Izzah Anwar rose to her feet to acknowledge the cheers and applause when she was declared the new deputy president of PKR.

What ought to have been a triumphant moment for Nurul Izzah and her proud parents on the stage appeared rather awkward as she gestured for the crowd to tone down their cheers, her expression strained and unsmiling.

She probably did not want Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli to feel further diminished by the defeat.

The party’s Reformasi Princess won by a landslide of 9,803 votes against Rafizi’s 3,866 votes. It was quite a low voter turnout as only 46% of the 30,000 delegates had voted.

Big wins come with huge expectations and everyone could visualise the big load on her shoulders. She has to unite the party and mobilise the machinery for the Sabah election and then the next general election.

Moreover, the dust has yet to settle and more drama lies ahead as Rafizi is expected to resign from his Cabinet post in the coming week.

The Economy Minister has said that he would let go of his minister post if he was defeated while PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has said he would not stop anyone from resigning.

The coming week is a high point for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as he plays host to Asean leaders.

Will Rafizi choose this time to cause a stir or will he give the Prime Minister a momentary break?

Rafizi’s no-show on the final day of the congress spoke volumes. He was on his way back to Kuala Lumpur and party insiders said he did not want to be up there with people who had gone all out to bring him down.

Moreover, Rafizi could be seen giving the cold shoulder to Anwar at the opening session of the PKR congress. He had made a grand entrance on Friday evening, arriving after the president was already seated onstage. He was swamped by the media as his supporters cheered him on.

Anwar stood up, smiling broadly as he stretched out his hand to greet Rafizi, but the younger man responded with a perfunctory handshake, avoided eye contact and made his way to his seat without exchanging a word.

Anwar looked startled but the smile never left his face. Some found it disrespectful that he behaved this way to their president. Others said Rafizi could hardly be blamed after struggling against what he called “the system”.

But the most riveting incident of all was the winding-up speech by Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail who cried as he spoke about consoling Rafizi after the results were known.

What on earth was that about? Wasn’t Saifuddin Nasution itching to challenge Rafizi for the No. 2 post until internal party polls indicated that he could not win?

Had Saifuddin Nasution been a winnable candidate, Nurul Izzah would not have been pushed into the ring and that would have saved the party from the tsunami of backlash from outside the party.

The insider opinion is that Rafizi will likely resist attempts to persuade him to stay on in the Cabinet.

“It is my hope he will come back as a team player to serve the party and the Prime Minister. Humility in politics is hard to come by and that’s why my boss (Anwar) makes it a point to pray at different mosques and eat at places that ordinary people go to,” said Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin, who is the chief political secretary to the Prime Minister.

A number of division chiefs could be seen congratulating Shamsul after Nurul Izzah won because he was said to have helped mobilise support for her.

“Rafizi is a martinet, someone who can only function by and for himself whereas governing is a collective endeavour. The reality of running a nation of 33 million is quite different,” said a political consultant who asked not to be named.

Rafizi has been inundated by messages commiserating with him and urging him not to give up politics.

His Facebook posts thanking supporters and the chronology of his campaign trail have drawn more than 63,000 likes as of today. Never before has the one defeated drawn so much support.

The diary-like account of what he went through was fascinating to say the least.

The things that happened behind the scenes were fast-paced and the stuff of high politics. There were clandestine meetings and negotiations and attempts at a last-minute reconciliation.

Perhaps the most intriguing part of his accounts was what happened when Nurul Izzah asked to meet him at the home of Saifuddin Nasution.

Rafizi did not go into detail but there is no telling if he will be tempted to tell all if pushed to the brink.

In hindsight, Nurul Izzah, with her family name, charisma and backing from the top, was hard to beat. But Rafizi, with his brains and strategic ability, was a formidable enemy.

And despite her declaration that Rafizi would always be her friend, that is not going to be the case. Rafizi is the epitome of the need to keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

“We have faced more intense contests before. I believe our members are mature enough to understand that it will take time to reconcile and to do damage control about what people are saying about our party,” said Shah Alam division chief Najwan Halimi, who is also Selangor state executive councillor.

This party election has also been a boost for Anwar who now has majority control of the central leadership council or MPP.

A handful of Rafizi’s loyalists survived in the MPP, resulting in what party people described as a “body without a head”.

On the other hand, rising star Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari, who again emerged as the top vice-president, saw his allies lose in the MPP, rendering him a “head without a body”.

What an ideal way to checkmate potential threats. Machiavelli would have given the thumbs-up to the outcome.

Nurul Izzah has long been seen as the future leader of the party that originated from the struggles of her father and family. Yet, her moment of triumph did not come with the usual elation and celebration.

She is a savvy politician who understands optics. She knows it won’t be easy to push back on public opinion about the first father-daughter leadership in Malaysian political history.

But, as they say, there can only be one winner and it is up to her to convince people that she is the worthy winner.