Nurul Izzah confirms rumours Rafizi wanted to resign in April

Summary

• Nurul Izzah says many in PKR suggested she contest the deputy presidency out of fears of a potential leadership vacuum.

• This follows news of Rafizi taking leave and vacating his office, as well as preparing a resignation letter.

Nurul Izzah Anwar appeared to have confirmed rumours that when Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli went on leave last month, he had actually intended to resign.

In a Facebook post tonight, Nurul Izzah said that she had received news that Rafizi had both vacated his office and prepared a resignation letter.

“When I received news that Rafizi had taken leave and vacated his office, I was still in India attending an international conference by invitation.

“The party leadership was also informed about a resignation letter that had already been prepared,” she said.

Based on her social media, Nurul Izzah was in India at the end of April.

This lines up with when rumours surfaced that Rafizi had wanted to resign as minister over disgruntlement with alleged discrepancies in the PKR division polls.

However, this did not come to pass, and Rafizi instead went on leave before resuming work at the Economy Ministry on May 6.

This might be short-lived, as he has said that he will resign as minister if he loses the PKR deputy presidency to Nurul Izzah.

Reason to contest

Nurul Izzah said this was what had purportedly led to some PKR members pushing her to step in and contest for PKR deputy presidency.

“This happened following a series of defeats at the divisional election among leaders who are aligned to Rafizi, and other leaders at the grassroots level.

“Due to the concern among many PKR leaders and members about a potential leadership vacuum, some of them suggested that I should step forward and offer myself as a deputy president candidate.

“This call was supported by 201 divisions out of 220. Only on the last day for nomination that Rafizi announced his candidacy, after I had already accepted the proposal to contest,” she said.

Nurul Izzah’s Facebook post came just hours before the campaign period for the PKR central leadership election expires.

The party will go to the polls tomorrow to choose its top leaders, from the deputy president post to central leadership council positions.

Party president Anwar Ibrahim has won uncontested.

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