Rafizi calls out Nurul Izzah on resignation claim, provides timeline of events

Summary

• Rafizi categorically denies Nurul Izzah’s claim that he was preparing to resign from government or had vacated his office.

• Economy minister provides a timeline showing he never drafted a resignation letter and continued his ministerial duties after taking brief leave.

• The dispute centres on Nurul Izzah's justification for contesting the deputy president position, claiming she did so to ‘save the party’ from a supposed vacancy.

Tension between PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli and his challenger Nurul Izzah Anwar continues to heat up, after the incumbent rejected her claim today that he was preparing to vacate his government office.

Nurul Izzah claimed in a Facebook post last night that the economy minister was ready to resign from the government out of frustration with PKR’s election results, which saw his allies soundly defeated.

Nurul Izzah also wrote that the party leadership was informed that Rafizi had prepared a resignation letter.

"I never packed my belongings to vacate my office. My office remains cluttered with files to this day.

“After taking four days’ leave to engage with grassroots members, I continued my ministerial duties as usual," Rafizi clarified in a statement today.

The timeline

Rafizi denounced such allegations as fabrications, lamenting they were used to justify his removal from PKR's senior leadership.

"Most recently, an accusation has surfaced suggesting that Nurul Izzah decided to contest the position because I was stepping down and had already vacated my office," he said, providing a timeline of events surrounding his purported resignation controversy.

• Feb 28: PKR president Anwar Ibrahim advised against any contest for the deputy president's post during the joint launch of the Selangor PKR annual general meeting. Rafizi claimed Anwar requested that he be given a clear path.

• April 8: Anwar asked Rafizi to remain in the race for deputy president, and was also present at the Economy Ministry's Hari Raya open house.

• April 13: Branch-level election entered its second week. Irregular results emerged, raising serious concerns and revealing troubling patterns.

• April 21: Pakatan Harapan secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail met Rafizi. Rafizi informed Saifuddin of a movement attempting to remove him from the deputy president position. Rafizi said he expressed readiness to step aside in all positions if it would put an end to the ongoing party issues.

• April 22: Rafizi met Anwar and conveyed the same message. Anwar disagreed. Anwar informed him that complaints regarding the voting system and branch-level results would be addressed in a special central leadership council meeting.

• April 23: The special meeting was tense and ended in a deadlock. No clear resolutions were reached on the complaints raised.

• April 24: Rafizi decided to take a short break to meet with as many dissatisfied branches as possible. He said he submitted a formal leave request to Anwar and that the letter was strictly about taking leave.

• April 28: Anwar called Rafizi to meet. Rafizi requested to complete his grassroots engagement sessions first and agreed to meet on April 30.

• April 29: The central leadership council agreed to conduct an independent audit of the branch-level electoral system and results to restore trust ahead of the national party election.

• April 30: Rafizi met Anwar. Anwar reiterated his request that Rafizi defend his party position and remain in cabinet. Rafizi stressed that only those who win the deputy president post should represent PKR in government. He said that he must resign as minister, or PKR would appear indifferent from other parties driven by positions of power.

• May 6: Media statements crafted by certain individuals, which Rafizi claimed included Anwar's political secretary, were released, painting a narrative that he was being rejected by branch leaders and PKR ministers. Rafizi said these statements openly endorsed Nurul Izzah instead.

• May 7: Rafizi confirmed his candidacy for the deputy president contest and welcomed other contenders.

• May 9: Nomination day. Nurul Izzah decided to contest despite knowing he was defending the position.

• May 10: Rafizi's nationwide “Hiruk” campaign began.

• May 19: Saifuddin purportedly requested that Rafizi consider Nurul Izzah’s request to meet him.

• May 20: Rafizi met Nurul Izzah and Saifuddin at the latter’s residence.

No resignation letter

Rafizi stressed that a resignation letter did not exist.

"I want to state that I had never drafted a resignation letter nor indicated that I would not contest. The justification that Nurul Izzah contested to ‘save the party’ due to a supposed vacancy is false.

“I had already announced my intent to defend the post much earlier, at the president’s own request," Rafizi said.

Earlier today, a PKR central leadership council contender refuted Nurul Izzah's claim that Rafizi had vacated his office before going on leave last month.

"I can confirm that Rafizi’s office was never vacated when he went on leave recently," Najib Bakar said on Facebook.

At the time, Najib was the ministry's corporate communications unit chief. He had since resigned from the position to contest for a post in the PKR central leadership council.

Najib explained that the minister's office was only tidied up for a Hari Raya open house.

He also revealed that many Special Branch police officers visited the ministry on April 27 to check on information about Rafizi’s resignation.

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