'Bad guy' Rafizi claims he saved PKR from Dr M's jaws in 2018
Haspaizi Zain
Published: May 17, 2025 9:01 AM
Updated: 12:38 PM
Summary
- PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli accuses his rival Nurul Izzah Anwar of attempting to deny his involvement in the 2018 general election seat negotiations.
- He reveals that Dr Mahathir Mohamad wanted Bersatu to contest in PKR strongholds.
PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli asserted that if he had not taken on the role of the “bad guy” during the 2018 electoral seat negotiations, the party would have been “eaten alive” by Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
He accused his rival Nurul Izzah Anwar of attempting to rewrite history by denying his involvement in the matter when her father Anwar Ibrahim was still in prison at the time.
Rafizi claimed he and then-PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail had negotiated seat allocations with Mahathir, although he did not deny that Nurul Izzah and then PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail were also present.
According to Rafizi, if not for his efforts, the complex negotiations with Bersatu might not have resulted in PKR securing the number of seats it contested in 2018.
He explained that Mahathir wanted Bersatu to contest in many constituencies, including PKR’s traditional strongholds.
“A new narrative has emerged claiming Rafizi didn’t play a role in PKR’s 2018 victory, and it’s hard for me to respond. I mean, it’s tough to blow your own trumpet.
PKR deputy presidential candidate Nurul Izzah Anwar
“I want to respond by telling the full story of what happened. Then people can compare those who name-drop with those who can explain the full chronology of the negotiation process - who really played a role and who just mentioned names.
“The main negotiators were Saifuddin and I, even though Saifuddin didn’t contest. People often try to pit us against each other, but that’s why I emphasise: don’t erase history, because most of the negotiations were done by Saifuddin and I,” he said during the “Jelajah Hiruk” event in Kota Bharu last night.
2018 seat negotiations
During a public rally with her supporters on Thursday, Nurul Izzah recalled the 2018 seat negotiations, where she served as co-election director.
She shared her experience negotiating seat allocations with Pakatan Harapan coalition component parties.
Rafizi also revealed that he was initially against Bersatu joining Harapan, as he did not want Mahathir to dominate the coalition.
“I want to respond by telling the full story of what happened. Then people can compare those who name-drop with those who can explain the full chronology of the negotiation process - who really played a role and who just mentioned names.
“The main negotiators were Saifuddin and I, even though Saifuddin didn’t contest. People often try to pit us against each other, but that’s why I emphasise: don’t erase history, because most of the negotiations were done by Saifuddin and I,” he said during the “Jelajah Hiruk” event in Kota Bharu last night.
2018 seat negotiations
During a public rally with her supporters on Thursday, Nurul Izzah recalled the 2018 seat negotiations, where she served as co-election director.
She shared her experience negotiating seat allocations with Pakatan Harapan coalition component parties.
Rafizi also revealed that he was initially against Bersatu joining Harapan, as he did not want Mahathir to dominate the coalition.
He had proposed that Harapan cooperate with Bersatu only through a coalition partnership.
“Back in 2016, we had already informed our friends in Harapan not to let Bersatu join. We proposed only a political cooperation - to avoid overlapping constituencies - but if they were allowed in, Mahathir would try to control everything,” he added.
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kt comments:
On this score alone, Rafizi's ability (and thus competence) in recognizing the dangers of allowing the Old Man to dominate, I will vote for him as Deputy PKR Leader. 👍👍👍😁
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