PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has thrown his support behind Rafizi Ramli for the post of party deputy president.

Speaking at an event commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Reformasi movement in Bayan Baru, Penang, last night, Saifuddin drew attention to Rafizi's capability and skills, citing PKR president-elect Anwar Ibrahim's admiration of him.

Saifuddin, the minister of domestic trade and consumer affairs, was referring to the recently launched book Anwar Returns: The Final Twist by Australian lawyer Mark Trowell, in which Anwar names Rafizi as his most likely successor.

Saifuddin cited a passage from the book in which Trowell asked Anwar about who will "take over" when he does time in prison, to which the latter had replied, "Those like PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli".

A member of the audience then said "Try to turn the pages and see if Azmin's name is mentioned," in reference to incumbent PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali, which raised chuckles among the 200-odd crowd.

Rafizi will be challenging Azmin for the post of deputy president, which the latter has held since 2010.

'Anwar values Rafizi's contribution'

According to Saifuddin, Anwar (photo) valued Rafizi's contribution to the party, particularly his skills and hard work in moving the party forward and towards capturing Putrajaya in the 14th general election.

The secretary-general also pointed out that Anwar makes another mention of Rafizi in the book – referring to him as someone who had disputed the predictions of analysts that BN will win GE14, and correctly called a Pakatan Harapan win based on his estimation of support on the ground.

In the book, he added, Anwar also stressed that it was the then opposition that had "started big" on exposing the 1MDB scandal, back in 2011.

Anwar was an MP when he raised an issue on 1MDB's accounts being unaudited and its money being kept in the Cayman Islands, which Saifuddin said then-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak "took very personally."

"There were dubious deals with a Saudi Arabian company, and it was not a credible company.

"What was the government's response then? Of course, those in Umno were against us, they were all defending it in the 2013 polls.

"After me, Rafizi focused his effort daily on the 1MDB issue, and the international press took it up," Saifuddin recalled.

Read more: Rafizi: Choose a PKR deputy who will not topple Anwar as PM

Saifuddin said that after reading the first 48 pages of Trowell's book, Anwar mentions Rafizi's name twice and not any other PKR leader.

"It is clear Anwar values Rafizi for his capability and skills. He (Rafizi) does his work properly and it brought impact and changed people's support for Harapan in the 2018 general election.

"We are proud of such asset, and it up to you to decide where he should stand in this elections," he said.

Also present was Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, who left the event after delivering a 10-minute talk, during which she urged party members to vote for leaders who remained loyal to the party, even if they do not hold any government post.