However, beneath the surface, a growing ideological and political divergence is threatening to fracture the party’s top leadership.
At the heart of this rift is the quiet but intensifying cold war between Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his one-time protégé and former PKR deputy president, Rafizi Ramli.
To many political observers, this cold war bears an uncanny resemblance to the historical fallout between Anwar and his former political mentor, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in 1998. Then, Anwar was the rising reformist star within Umno, riding high on a wave of public support and international admiration.
His bold, progressive ideas and calls for economic transparency clashed with Mahathir’s entrenched autocratic style. The conflict culminated in Anwar’s dramatic ouster, galvanising the Reformasi movement and...