'Bid to boost Nurul Izzah similar to Anwar's 1993 ousting of Ghafar Baba'

Summary

• Veteran journalist A Kadir Jasin says moves to boost Nurul Izzah Anwar’s challenge to Rafizi Ramli for the PKR deputy presidency are similar to Anwar Ibrahim’s manoeuvrings against the late Abdul Ghafar Baba for the Umno deputy presidency in 1993.

• Regardless of who wins, Kadir says it was time for Malaysia to move on from “leaders from the post-World War II generation”.

With Nurul Izzah Anwar’s bid to become the next PKR deputy president getting more support, veteran journalist A Kadir Jasin pointed out that Anwar Ibrahim’s contemporaries would not find it surprising.

According to him, the manoeuvrings within PKR to boost Nurul Izzah are very similar to the moves done to oust former Umno deputy president Abdul Ghafar Baba in 1993 in favour of Anwar.

“Veteran political observers and Anwar’s contemporaries when the latter was in Umno would not be surprised by the manoeuvres to back Nurul Izzah.

“It’s similar to the moves done by Anwar’s camp (in his Umno days) to oust Ghafar in the Umno polls in 1993,” he said on Facebook today.

In 1993, Anwar, then an Umno vice-president, was initially hesitant to challenge Ghafar for the Umno deputy presidency and even referred to the latter as his “father figure”.

However, Anwar started receiving massive endorsement from Umno divisions across the country for the post.

In turn, Ghafar decided not to defend the Umno deputy presidency, leaving Anwar to ascend to the post uncontested.

Similar playbook

Nurul Izzah, who is an appointed PKR vice-president, initially announced that she wanted to contest for an elected vice-president seat.

However, on May 7, Federal Territories PKR declared support for Nurul Izzah to contest for the deputy-presidency, saying she is a leader deeply rooted in the party’s struggles and well-versed in navigating the challenges of national politics.

The support came from, among others, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

On May 9, Nurul Izzah officially filed her nomination for the PKR deputy presidency to challenge incumbent Rafizi Ramli.

Her bid then received backing from other senior party leaders, including Rafizi himself.

On that note, Kadir said, regardless of who wins the PKR deputy presidency, it was time for Malaysians to be rid of “leaders from the post-World War II generation”.

“Our political leadership is getting old and stuck in destructive personal politics.

“Therefore, let us name at least 10 people whom we feel have the potential to become prime minister in the next five to 10 years,” he added.

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