Deputy president post up for grabs?

Top two: Anwar (right) seemed cosy with Rafizi before the 2022 elections but is the Economy Minister’s star fading now – enough to threaten his position as PKR’s deputy president? — Filepic/The Star

ECONOMY Minister Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli and a minister aligned with him were absent from the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, sparking speculation that he had quit his post.

It turned out that Rafizi, as explained by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, was on leave for “just a few days off”. But that did not stop the talk that Rafizi, the PKR deputy president, was at odds with Anwar, the PKR president.

Two days before the Cabinet meeting, Rafizi tweeted a cryptic message, tagging Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad: “Unlike @niknazmi, I am the type who only appears when I am happy,” he said.

Is the “unhappy” minister on leave because he’s strategising how to defend his PKR deputy president post, or sulking over his men losing in the party polls?

Among prominent Rafizi men who lost were PKR vice-president Nik Nazmi and Deputy Youth and Sports Minister and PKR Youth chief Adam Adli Abdul Halim. Some losing candidates have complained, raising doubts about the voting system’s integrity and suggesting an “invisible hand” manipulated the election’s results.

I contacted political analyst Dr Mazlan Ali to get his insight on whether there was an Anwar versus Rafizi factionalism fight in PKR.

Mazlan carefully avoided my question by saying he was unsure whether there was a conflict between the PKR president and his deputy. He noted that after becoming Prime Minister two years ago, Anwar’s performance has been stellar, resulting in a wide gap between the popularity of the two leaders in PKR.

“Space has opened for the PKR grassroots to pick a leader other than Rafizi to continue Anwar’s leadership,” he said.

“The gap is so wide that many in PKR no longer see Rafizi as Anwar’s replacement. The replacement can be anybody. Rafizi’s influence in the party has decreased. That is why those close to Rafizi lost in the party polls.”

Mazlan contended that with Anwar strengthening his grip on the party he founded, Rafizi could be challenged for the deputy president’s post.

According to the analyst, one of the possible challengers is Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

If there’s a contest, it will be the second time they are going for the deputy president post. In the party polls in 2022, Rafizi got 59,678 votes (58.12%) and Saifuddin 43,010 (41.88%).

Mazlan said that if Saifuddin takes on Rafizi this time, the fight will be 50/50.

“At that time [in 2022], Rafizi was getting closer to Anwar in stature and was seen as possibly replacing Anwar for the party leadership. But now, after Anwar became PM, he has left Rafizi far behind,” he said.

“As long as Saifuddin is with Anwar, he will have the support in PKR.”

It reminds me of the talk before the 15th General Election in 2022 when the sentiment was that Pakatan Harapan, of which PKR is the backbone, wouldn’t win the elections and Pakatan chairman Anwar would not be prime minister. The speculation was that when that happened, Rafizi, who was building up his team in PKR then, would take on Anwar for the president’s post, especially if the party did poorly in the polls.

History tells us that did not happen. As Mazlan points out, there is currently a wave in PKR supporting Anwar, which shows that the party president is someone who can’t be cabar (challenged).

On who else could challenge Rafizi for the deputy president post, the political analyst said a possibility is Selangor Mentri Besar and PKR vice-president Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari. If there were a contest between the two, however, he forecasted that Rafizi could still hold on to his position.

Rafizi was a darling of the Pakatan crowd when he was in the Opposition. He had formulas for fixing the economy and fighting corruption, and the Opposition crowd saw him as a potential prime minister. However, now that he is the Economy Minister, Rafizi is seen as having made a 180º turn on almost all the issues he had previously fought for.

The Pandan MP was also seen as so proud and talking so big and rough that he was blamed for PKR’s defeat in the Sungai Bakap by-election in Penang last year.

His political fortunes are dipping, and if there’s a challenge for his deputy president post, it will be a barometer of whether it has dipped further.

Publicly, Anwar has said he supports Rafizi as PKR deputy president. But there’s intrigue in the air as nominations for the 2025 PKR central leadership were postponed from yesterday and today to May 8 and 9.

Will those aligned with Team Anwar go for the deputy president post now that many in Team Rafizi have lost in PKR divisional elections?