Nurul shouldn’t have opened the Pandora's Box

Murray Hunter


Nurul shouldn’t have opened the Pandora's Box


May 29, 2025





Keep your friends close and your enemies closer – The Godfather Part II

Nurul, no doubt orchestrated by her father made a run against the incumbent deputy president of PKR Rafizi Ramli, and won with minimal support of the party membership. The vote questions her real legitimacy.

Even Blind Freddy could see that Nurul’s run would have deeply profound implications for the stability and harmony of PKR, if not the government. But Nurul went and did it, and didn’t have the maturity to withdraw during the campaign when there were signs of a party rift opening.

That’s a poor testament for a future leader.

Now, while Nurul is not even in the country, the after shocks of her win last Saturday have arrived. As expected, and even prodded by the puppet Fahmi Fadzil, Rafizi resigned as promised as economy minister. A couple of hours later, another popular figure Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad resigned as the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister.

In reality, Rafizi’s ministry of Economy had long been stripped of its powers and authority, so Rafizi doesn’t have to sit in his office bored each day with nothing to do. Likewise, Nik Nazmi was given a ministry that was primarily window dressing. Both Rafizi and Nik Nazmi will be better off being free. This is probably one of the only times two people have resigned from their ministries on principle.

That’s the stuff future leaders should be made of.

PKR is now in a shambles, and it was entirely self-inflicted by the actions of Anwar and Nurul. There has been a massive miscalculation here, which party members won’t forget easily. Here is where the culture of the Malay idiom “Padam [Padan] muka dia” will haunt Nurul over the coming term of her deputy presidency. Nurul may have one [won] the battle of ousting Rafizi, but it was a hollow victory, where her unpopularity will continue to grow. She has now exposed herself to open scrutiny. Dislike may not be outward, but it’s going to get harder to find volunteers, and even members will not come out to vote for PKR in the coming state and federal elections.

Some people talk of Rafizi raising a rebellion with the likes of Lih Kang (Tg Malim), Tan Kar Hing (Gopeng), Wong Chen (Subang), Zahir Hasan (Wangsa Maju), Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh (Ledang), Onn Abu Bakar (Batu Pahat), and Aminudin Harun (Port Dickson) withdrawing their support so [for] Anwar in the Dewan Rakyat. If they did, there would be not much achieved. Anwar knows the numbers anyway, and confidence in Anwar as prime minister will never be tested anyway.

PKR is now in a state of ‘cold war’ where the top two leaders have a party, they think they control. Anwar and Nurul’s support in PKR will wain over time, where Rafizi will be able to challenge Anwar or Nurul very easily.

However, Rafizi et. al., know they are on sinking ship that needs to be saved. Many of Anwar’s supporters are unlikely to hold their seats in the next general election. Its not even sure where Anwar, Nurul, and Saifuddin Nasution Ismail can stand and win. There won’t be much PKR left.

Other parties in the ‘unity coalition’ are aware of Anwar’s poor performance, giving Rafizi a wide range of people to talk to. So, anything can happen now, even a repeat of the ‘Sheraton Move’ in some other form.

The bottom line is Anwar’s government is now very shaky, especially after Nurul opened the Pandoras Box last Saturday. Nurul’s move may have started the beginning of the end for Anwar’s prime ministership.

Such irony.