Obama, GE13 inspired Akmal's foray into national politics

INTERVIEW | Many new faces emerged in the political arena after the historical change of regime in the 14th general election, like newly elected PKR Youth chief Akmal Nasir.

In 2012, Akmal, together with then-PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli, co-founded National Oversight and Whistleblower Centre (NOW). They exposed several scandals by the BN administration at the time.

It was from then that he started to grab the public's attention.

Six years later, on May 9, Akmal emerged as a giant slayer, defeating Umno veteran Shahrir Abdul Samad for the Johor Bahru parliamentary seat.

In the recent PKR polls, he narrowly defeated incumbent Afif Bahardin in the battle for the Youth chief post.

For Akmal, this was the first time he participated in national politics while being based in the Johor capital.

The 32-year-old studied at the prestigious Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) before furthering his education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States.

He got his first taste of politics in a talk hosted by PKR president Anwar Ibrahim in Chicago during his freshman year.

“It was in 2005 when I was a freshman. People were talking about him and I just wanted to know who Anwar was,” he told Malaysiakini in a recent interview.

The Chicago talk attracted a mostly international audience of 500, recalled Akmal.

A year prior, Anwar walked free after the Federal Court acquitted him on his sodomy charge. He went to seek treatment overseas and took up lecturing positions at universities in the UK and US.

Akmal was a Mara-sponsored student pursuing actuarial science and economics. Despite being warned by the Malaysian Student Department (MSD), he still went to the talk with 15 of his fellow students.

“I knew Anwar was a vocal and gung-ho fighter, but in Chicago, I saw his compassion for the country.

“Anwar did not say anything bad about the country, but just wanted to correct the situation in Malaysia. He was not trying to use his popularity or the students for his personal interests.

“He didn't speak about politics. Only about the need to help the country, in whatever way. I felt like he had some sincerity – although him being a politician, you always have doubts, you are always critical.”

While Malaysian students were the minority in the audience, Akmal said Anwar took their questions and views seriously. It made him think that the opposition leader was not the "devil" as perceived by the public.

Later, Akmal attended another event involving Anwar without the knowledge of the MSD.

He joked that his training in actuarial science helped him to calculate the risk of attending the talk without losing his scholarship.

“I think it was a risk worth taking. I don't think it can cause you to lose the scholarship, although they can do it if they wanted to.

“To be fair, I thought I was not doing anything wrong. I just want to see the person but I was not trying to go against the government.

The risky road

In 2008, both Malaysia and the US entered a new era. 

On March 8, the BN government failed to win a two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat, and November saw Barack Obama elected as the first black US president.

The two incidents inspired and changed the path of Akmal's life.

In the run-up to the 2008 polls, he wrote an online article urging the public to support Nik Nazmi Nik Mat, who was contesting for the Seri Setia state seat. The former PKR Youth chief is also an MCKK alumnus.

Akmal wanted to join the corporate world after graduation, but decided to enter politics after witnessing the changes in Malaysia and the US.

“I was evaluating the situation then and I did not have big commitments to start with. It allowed me to take a slightly risky road.

“I felt that I can't wait. If I had waited too long, it may have weakened my feel for the people. I was aware that I didn't have much experience back then.”

Akmal crossed path with Anwar again after the Pakatan Harapan-controlled Selangor government appointed him the state economic advisor.

As a researcher at the economic advisor's office, Akmal worked with Rafizi who later became his political mentor.

He initially knew Rafizi as the corporate man who abandoned a relatively well-paid job to join politics.

Later, Akmal discovered that Rafizi spent most of his time working with colleagues, and praised him for putting 100 percent effort into his work.

“He is very hardworking and industrious, you can't meet a boss who would spend more time than you or anyone else, doing work.

"At the Selangor economic advisor's office, our schedule would start at 8am or 9am, up to 10pm. Even this is quite unusual in corporate life. But for him, it's normal.”

He said Rafizi also expects his staff to be disciplined and aim high.

Eventually, Akmal followed Rafizi when he left the Selangor economic advisor's office in 2012.

He agreed with Rafizi's plan to institutionalise the whistleblower culture and they later formed NOW.

“Rafizi wanted the whistleblower (culture) to be a norm in our society. Nobody really knew what a whistleblower was until he exposed the National Feedlot Corporation scandal."

Akmal was appointed as director of NOW. During his tenure, they exposed the scandals of Mara for allegedly overpaying on the purchase of Australian properties, and the abuse of funds at the Malaysian Islamic Economic Development Foundation (Yapeim).

“I was sleeping at NOW's office for more than a year because I could not find a place to sleep. This was due to my budget," he said with a burst of laughter.

Helping in Pandan

During the 13th general election, Rafizi contested the Pandan parliamentary seat in Selangor and Akmal was his campaign manager.

“Of course, he had a team of people to look after the constituency. I was looking after his campaign and I believed that he could win," he said.

Pandan was MCA's sole parliamentary fortress in Selangor after the 2008 political tsunami. Rafizi successfully won the seat in the 2013 polls.

However, the 'Ubah' slogan failed to help Pakatan Rakyat win Putrajaya. This allowed Akmal to think about his next step on how to contribute to the Reformasi agenda.

“We reached an understanding that I should not be in Pandan. Because I can't forever be under his shadow, while he had a good team in Pandan."

Akmal explained that while both enjoyed a good working relationship, they were of different characters.

Describing himself as accommodative and a private person, he opined that Rafizi has a strong character and more used to being in the limelight.

“In terms of lifestyle, I think there should be a boundary between public and private life, although you are a public servant. I always wanted to keep my family personal.

"Basically, I need some space, enough to take me away from politics. I think it is okay for politicians to have a family life.”

After a discussion with Rafizi, Akmal left Selangor and returned to his native Johor Bahru to launch his next political adventure.

The capital of the southern state was Umno's unbreakable fortress. The party secured the seat with an over 10,000-vote majority at GE13.

However, Akmal was determined and worked hard in the constituency. In 2014, he was elected as PKR division chief at the age of 29. 

Since then, with the help from the grassroots, they organised multiple meet-and-greet activities with the voters.

“I know we had the chance to win. It was not a big team but functional.

“The national issues were in our favour and we had a better way to campaign with access to Facebook and Invoke. I knew we could reach many voters.”

Akmal admitted that the toughest part was not about going against Shahrir, but to persuade Pakatan Harapan leadership to field a PKR candidate.

“It was a coveted seat. All of a sudden everyone thought Johor Bahru was winnable but no one was too sure about it.

"So for me, it was tough to convince the party and Harapan leadership that I was the best candidate for the seat.”

In August 2017, DAP veteran leader Lim Kit Siang stated his party's intention to contest in one of the seats in the Johor Bahru vicinity, namely Johor Bahru, Tebrau and Pasir Gudang.

It was speculated that Lim might move from neighbouring Iskandar Puteri to Johor Bahru to take on Shahrir himself. Eventually, Harapan leadership decided to retain PKR in Johor Bahru and Akmal was fielded as a candidate.

On the GE14 election night, Akmal and his supporters waited at the campaign centre while the votes were being counted.

During GE13, Umno secured more than 100 votes in Chinese-majority polling districts and heavily crushed PKR in Malay-majority polling districts.

But it was the reverse this time around. The votes which came in showed PKR was on top of Umno in Chinese-majority polling districts and neck-to-neck in the Malay-majority areas.

Harapan swept six parliamentary seats and 13 state seats in the greater Johor Bahru. BN suffered an unprecedented defeat and eventually surrendered the Johor government to Harapan.

Recalling the scene, Akmal said he owed the supporters and volunteers a lot for assisting him during the campaign period.

“Well, I was humbled to make history for PKR in Johor Bahru. It was a great feeling.”

Although there were speculations that Harapan would win Putrajaya, Akmal had mixed feelings.

“When the (Johor Bahru) result was announced, even you would not think what would you do for the constituency when you had just won, but now you have to pick up tasks at the national level."

Tussle for PKR Youth chief

In July 2018, Akmal was sworn in as MP and became a backbencher in the Harapan government. He was also appointed as a member of the Public Accounts Committee.

As one of the youngest lawmakers, Akmal felt that he should voice out more on issues relating to the youth. Due to that, he decided to throw his hat into the ring and contest the PKR Youth chief post.

“To be honest, if you asked me two, three years ago, I was not thinking of contesting. My focus was on Johor Bahru, a tough seat.

"Things went quite fast. As an MP, people expect you to speak up on youth development and welfare. This motivated me to contest. I saw the chance to elevate PKR Youth to the next level.”

Akmal joined Rafizi's team in the tussle against Mohamed Azmin Ali's camp.

While Rafizi failed to unseat Azmin to become PKR deputy president, Akmal survived the battle, winning by less than 50 votes. His team only secured four out of 25 youth positions.

He vowed to rebuild the cracked relationship between Rafizi and Azmin camps.

Akmal, who will exceed the age limit in the next party polls, said he would do all he can to implement the youth agenda as "I don't have a future commitment or baggage I need to be worried about."

Moving forward, Akmal vowed he will prioritise graduates making a reasonable starting salary.

"Their salaries should be on par and reasonable. It's good that the country has a minimum wage. People argue on what should be the minimum wage, but at least, the idea of the minimum wage has been accepted by society."

When his four-year tenure ends, Akmal said he hopes to hand over PKR Youth in the best shape for his successor.

This interview was conducted by LU WEI HOONG.