Rafizi claims Anwar waved off PKR leaders' concerns on Farhash

Rafizi claims Anwar waved off PKR leaders' concerns on Farhash

Published: Aug 23, 2025 7:08 PM
Updated: 9:10 PM


Summary

• Rafizi Ramli says PKR leaders repeatedly raised concerns with Anwar Ibrahim about Farhash Wafa Salvador’s influence, but Anwar dismissed them, calling him only a former political secretary.

• He claims that it was common knowledge within PKR that many party manoeuvres are attributed to Farhash.

Former economy minister Rafizi Ramli said he, along with other PKR members, had brought up the matter of the role of politician-turned-businessperson Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

However, the former PKR deputy president said Anwar had dismissed such concerns.

"We ourselves have mentioned it many times, but Anwar's answer was that he (Farhash) was (only) his (Anwar's) former political secretary," Rafizi said during the latest episode of his podcast "Yang Berhenti Menteri" last night.

He said the concerns were caused by a perception that Farhash seemingly wielded a great level of political influence.

"Everyone knows that many of the schemes in the party were made by Farhash," Rafizi said, adding that this was common knowledge within PKR.

Such a perception needed to be handled and Farhash's link to Anwar meant that it had to be brought up internally to the prime minister, Rafizi explained.

Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak, former aide to Anwar Ibrahim


"It was certainly brought up to Anwar but Anwar's response was just like that - 'it had nothing to do with me (as) Farhash is (just) former political secretary’," he said.

Growing influence

Rafizi said he first noticed Farhash in 2019, when the latter was queueing up outside Anwar’s room in the Cheras Hospital to meet the PKR president.

By 2022, Rafizi said Farhash’s influence had grown enough for him to lead his own faction.

The faction, dubbed “geng baju hitam” (black clothes gang), had styled themselves as defenders of Anwar.

Rafizi opined that this was because, "their political power and influence comes from Anwar."

Besides that, Rafizi spoke on the whistleblower who recently approached him on allegations implicating Farhash in a mining scandal in Sabah.

"This whistleblower came after I said that Farhash needs to be investigated because I remember that was the first time any politician openly stated Farhash's name.

"When you do so-called investigative journalism, the moment you send a signal then people will come," he said.

Rafizi revealed after an attack on his 12-year-old son that he had met with a whistleblower regarding Farhash.

He hinted that the assault, in which his son was stabbed with a syringe at a Putrajaya mall car park, may have been a direct consequence of that meeting.