Rafizi: Harapan has flexibility to use best assets

There is no issue with PKR fielding people from Amanah in the upcoming 15th general election (GE15), said PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli.

Due to the long-term close working relationship between the parties within Pakatan Harapan, Rafizi said they have the flexibility of utilising the coalition’s “respective and collective assets” in order to gain the best results in the polls.

“Our job in the top leadership in PKR and Harapan is how to best utilise our respective and collective assets to bring the results (we want).

“It means we can utilise and gain more support because we have more flexibility in our electoral configuration,” Rafizi said in an interview with Malaysiakini.

Addressing concerns of protests from Amanah, he said the coalition parties have gone through many ups and downs together over the years so such administrative issues can be resolved among themselves.

“We have fought side by side for over two decades. There’s no doubt where their heart lies. It is a question of what form is the best that we can adopt to get them to fit in the national narrative.

“Amanah respects that we have perhaps a different electoral configuration for Husam Musa (above, left) and Nik Omar Nik Aziz (above, right) and they give us space to figure out how to best field them,” he added.

Rafizi Ramli was referring to former Amanah vice-president Husam Musa, who was recently named as PKR’s candidate in Pasir Mas.

Nik Omar, meanwhile, is the son of the late PAS spiritual adviser Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and had previously contested the Chempaka state seat as an Amanah member in GE14.

For GE15, he was revealed to be PKR’s candidate for Pasir Salak in Perak.

Rafizi insists the issue of party-hopping does not arise in the case of Husam and Nik Omar as what is more important, he said, is to be as inclusive as possible to appeal to different segments of people.

“What we need is to show inclusiveness, variety, and appeal to different segments of society, and to be able to convince voters that we come in different shapes and sizes, that we may be different with our respective followers but we all subscribe to the same fundamental direction on how to make things better for the average Malaysian,” he said.

DAP video clip ‘out of context’

On a separate matter, Rafizi also addressed the leaked audio clip that went viral, in which the PKR deputy president was heard talking about how DAP uses their Malay leaders in an unsuccessful attempt to woo Malay voters.

Rafizi said the audio clip, lasting about two minutes and 20 seconds, was recorded during a closed-door meeting in 2019, but it has been edited and taken out of context.

That is not how he personally views DAP, but he was merely explaining why Malay voters have a negative perception of the party that has often been painted by its opponents as anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

“It was edited because I was asked why was it Malays don’t support Pakatan Harapan and why DAP is seen as a liability to Harapan from the perspective of the Malays.

“I was asked that question, what was the perspective (of the Malays) so I was explaining.

“I stand by that in terms of explaining how some of the Malays think. The problem with politicians sometimes is you don’t want to have difficult discussions,” he said.

Rafizi said he was trying to explain in the audio clip that Malay voters are not simply indoctrinated by Umno, but that they formed their opinion on DAP over a period of time and that it is an issue of the “psyche”.

“In order to solve a problem, you need to know the root cause and the psyche issue is a root cause.

“My friends in DAP fully understand the context, that’s why it is not an issue,” Rafizi said.

At the same time, Rafizi said he is aware of who recorded and subsequently leaked the conversation.

The individual is still in the party, he said, and this person will be dealt with after the general election.

“I know that person and eventually we will deal with him after the general election. So that person knows that we will come after him,” he said.

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