KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s outgoing Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli, who was defeated by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s daughter in his party’s internal elections, has declined an offer from her to serve as its second deputy president.
Rafizi, who failed to retain his deputy president post in the ruling Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in a face-off with Nurul Izzah Anwar, said that her suggestion to create a second deputy president for him to fill was made at a meeting three days before party delegates cast their ballots in its central leadership elections on May 23.
“When Nurul Izzah met me the other day, she tried to propose the idea of appointing me as a deputy president (to serve alongside her), but whether it’s the deputy president or even the president’s position, I am not interested,” Rafizi told reporters at an event in Ampang on Sunday (Jun 1), reported local news outlet The Star.
“I had made it clear from the beginning that I would not accept any leadership position (if I lost). This is not about holding office,” he said, as quoted by the New Straits Times (NST).
“It’s about the message and the struggle we want to carry forward.”
Prior to the polls, Nurul Izzah was the firm favourite to clinch the deputy president post having secured the support of more than half of the party’s 222 divisions. She ended up winning 9,803 votes against Rafizi’s 3,866 votes.
Following his loss, Rafizi announced his resignation from Anwar’s cabinet on May 28, with his ally Nik Azmi Nik Ahmad who is the natural resources and environmental sustainability minister, following soon after.
“My recent defeat in the PKR elections signifies that I no longer possess the party’s mandate to translate PKR’s people-centric agenda into government programmes … As practised in other countries that uphold democratic principles, leaders who lose in party elections should make way for the victors to assume roles in the government,” he said in a statement to the media then.
In response to queries from the media, Nurul Izzah Anwar did not confirm nor deny Rafizi’s claims that she had made the offer, stating that it was a “sincere effort to build bridges in the party”, as well as to bolster its values after the internal elections.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/malaysia-rafizi-ramli-nurul-izzah-pkr-deputy-president-appointed-anwar-ibrahim-5162656
