Rafizi Ramli believes it is premature to be naming candidates who will assume the post of prime minister should BN lose federal power in the next general election, at a time when political support for the respective opposition parties remains uncertain.

As for convincing the Malay voters who are opposed to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to back the opposition, Rafizi, who is a PKR vice-president, said there must be a ceasefire among the opposition parties to ensure that they return to the role of defending the people.

Citing his findings on young Malay voters, Rafizi pointed out that while they rejected Umno, they also do not overwhelmingly back any particular opposition party.

Furthermore, he said, his survey also revealed a certain degree of stigma associated with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).

“This is understandable, given that the party is new and most people are not clear of its positions on many issues.

“More so, those who lean more to Umno or those who were strongly anti-BN will find it difficult to accept Bersatu at face value,” Rafizi told Malaysiakini.

He was responding to Bersatu pro-tem chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who said the party’s pro-tem president Muhyiddin Yassin would be prime minister if the opposition agrees.

On winning Malay support, Rafizi reiterated that it is insufficient to just champion the 1MDB issue from mismanagement perspectives alone, as this strategy would further alienate and disenfranchise the ordinary Malay voters.

Daily issues, difficulties must be addressed

“While they know the mess 1MDB has created, they also want their daily issues and difficulties to be addressed and championed,” he said.

“I am sure the leader who can do all this (ensure a one-to-one fight, demonstrate honest concern of the rakyat's daily woes such as cost of living, public transport issues, housing, education, tuition fees, etc) will command the respect of the other fellow parliamentarians to lead the formation of a new government, post GE14,” he added.

In the past, Rafizi said only former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had successfully demonstrated these traits, consistently.

“Unless there is someone else who can do it better than him, it is not easy to convince the public, even if opposition parties agree to nominate Muhyiddin as the candidate for PM,” he added.

As for Anwar becoming prime minister, Rafizi said it has happened elsewhere in the world that a disqualified PM-designate was not appointed immediately after a general election but installed after the disqualification was overturned.

“AKP (Turkey) went through 2002 election with Raccip Tayyip Erdogan as PM-designate but Abdullah Gul assumed the PM post first to allow for process to overturn the disqualification, after which Erdogan assumed the post of PM.

“Malaysians just have to get used to the idea.

“Just because it never happens before in this country does not mean it is impossible, especially when it has happened elsewhere,” the MP for Pandan added.