LETTER | As Joko Widodo (Jokowi) concluded his presidency, many Indonesians were appalled to see the path being paved for his eldest son, Gibran, to be the vice-president. However, in his defence, at least Jokowi was on the way out of politics. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about what is happening in Malaysia.

With the upcoming PKR election coming up, we are seeing something unprecedented unfold in Malaysian politics. A situation where the sitting president and deputy president of the ruling governing party are father and daughter. Of course, we would have to wait for the election results, but just the sheer audacity of this candidacy must be scrutinised.

Even Dr Mahathir Mohamad had the decency to resign as Umno president, before pushing his son up from the sidelines. Even Umno, a party of patronage, has never seen such kinship in naked display. PKR, for all its advocacy of justice and reform, is descending to the very beast it swore to slay.

There are many reasons to dislike nepotism on this scale. For one, it would delay Malaysia’s economic development. As of June 2024, 11 of the world's democracies have heads of government whose fathers or husbands were heads of government before them: Canada, Estonia, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Mauritius, Nauru, the Philippines, Samoa, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Uruguay.

Aside from Canada (which has already elected a non-Justin Trudeau leader), most of these countries are not where Malaysia should or want to be. By limiting the highest land of political office to your children, you are increasing the likelihood of mediocre leaders rising.

We don’t even have to look at other countries to intuitively know this. Remember the son of our second prime minister? That’s Najib Abdul Razak. He holds the unenviable position of being the son of Abdul Razak Hussein, our sixth prime minister, and also in jail for the biggest corruption case of this century.

The staunchest of supporters (some of whom, like the Selangor menteri besar, were supporting Rafizi a few days back) will say Nurul Izzah Anwar is the exception. Alas, as history shows, the most dangerous words are “this time it’s different”. But, more simply, on what metric? Whilst she was a three-term MP, she lost her family’s seat to a TikTok ustaz.

Unlike other vice-presidents, such as Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and Chang Lih Kang, she has zero governing experience, both in the state and federal levels. It is not enough, as the Keluar Sekejap folk would tell you, to just be passionate about public policy and a longtime party activist. Many can claim that.

What they can’t claim is that their father is the president. That, no matter how you slice and dice it, is ultimately why Nurul Izzah is where she is now.

But, just like in the battle against Azmin Ali in 2018, the one fighting for the soul of the party is Rafizi Ramli. Someone who brought the party back from its lowest in early 2022 to electoral success by GE15. Someone who can point to a successful stint in the private sector. Someone with tangible ministerial experience.

A vote for Nurul Izzah wouldn’t just be a betrayal of the party’s founding principles. It would be a betrayal of this country. And would usher in something far more sinister: that if the de facto reformist party is willing to go this far for dynastic power, then all rules are off the table.

Every means would justify this end. This is a far cry from the Keadilan we filled the streets for. If we aren’t careful, this could mark the beginning of the darkest chapter in PKR’s history, where leaders sided with nepotism over justice.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.