Time for Rafizi to leave PKR and chart own course

FMT:

Time for Rafizi to leave PKR and chart own course

Maybe he can start a Reformasi 2.0 movement, along with like-minded colleagues

As much as it pains me to say so, Rafizi Ramli is at a major political crossroad, to either stay with PKR or leave to start a new party of his own.

I do not like to think that Rafizi is trying to get himself sacked, because that would never happen.


The most gentlemanly thing he could do is to chart his own path, if he is what he says he is: a man of principle, a man of action and a man of strategies.

As a Malaysian, I want to see the Reformasi spirit carve out a new political path, even if that means working with others.

As long as there is a Pakatan Harapan representative in the government, I believe changes will come. Without a representative from PH, the government will revert to the bad old days of Barisan Nasional under Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Najib Razak and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Why do I think that it is time for Rafizi to move on?

I was sad for him when he first announced that he might lose at the party elections earlier this year to those aligned with PKR president Anwar Ibrahim and his daughter, Nurul Izzah.

But if that is what the delegates want in a fair election, so be it. That is democracy. And if Rafizi was too busy to go to the ground and engage in politicking, then that is too bad.


And while I had found him to be, at one time, an astute politician, he eventually evolved into becoming a whingeing one.

When the PKR election results came out, Rafizi lost not by a little, but a lot. He insisted that there was something wrong with the voting system and also implied that members who had publicly backed him were threatened, although the claim was never verified.

An audit on the election results showed no irregularities, from what I understand; Rafizi didn’t drag the party to the Registrar of Societies or even to court, which brings me to conclude that his claims were just that – claims, made out of bitterness, in all likelihood.

Nevertheless, I still rooted for Rafizi.


When he decided to resign as a minister, I was disappointed and surprised. Why resign when you were not asked by the prime minister to do so?

His reasoning was that as a leader who lost in the party polls, he should resign as a matter of principle. Rafizi later said he had fallen out of Anwar’s favour and therefore his views in Cabinet would not be taken seriously.

Rafizi’s excuse is unacceptable both professionally and politically, when viewed against the case of Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah of Sarawak.

Karim, a state minister, was ousted as a vice-president of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, and offered to resign from the state Cabinet. However, he let chief minister Abang Johari Openg (also the PBB president) have the final say. Karim remains in Sarawak’s Cabinet.

Rafizi, once free of ministerial and party posts, did not hold back on criticising the government’s policies and those of Anwar, turning from a man who knew how to put political ammunition to good use into somewhat of a loose cannon and letting fly on issues ranging from the appointment of a new chief judge to Malaysia’s trade deal with the US.

But the issues he had raised fizzled, either because it was mere speculation or an explanation was provided. And in the end, he came off as nothing more than a poor imitation of Hassan Karim (PKR’s outspoken MP for Pasir Gudang).

While it is fine for Rafizi to take the principled and moral high ground and continue criticising the government, it could be detrimental if it leads to the current government being voted out. Should that happen, who should we blame?

Then came the rather ominous remarks about not making a comeback to the party’s leadership.

Why did he say that? Is PKR not a democratic party? Rafizi should be able to work the ground and convince the party members to reelect him back to the top and even to the very top, as president of PKR.

I thought Rafizi was a fighter. I thought he had all the data. I thought Rafizi was a war general. But the Rafizi I see seems intent on bringing Anwar and PKR down. For me Rafizi has already crossed the rubicon and I, like many others, are seeing the Mr Hyde in the Pandan MP.

Which is why I feel the time has come for Rafizi to find an alternate route to the top. Maybe he could start a Reformasi 2.0 movement, along with Hassan Karim and Wong Chen.

After all, he said it himself that there is no place in PKR. So what is he waiting for? Be magnanimous. Instead of being PKR’s thorn in the flesh, leave the party, along with those aligned with you, and form a new party.