Shamsul's attempt to woo Rafizi 'hypocritical', says PKR leader

Summary

• Tuaran PKR division chief Razeef Rakimin urges party leaders to stop attempting to persuade outgoing ministers Rafizi and Nik Nazmi to stay in the cabinet.

• He says the two resigned because they have principles, and other party leaders should just move on.

• Razeef also calls Shamsul Iskandar Akin hypocritical for trying to persuade Rafizi, as the former backed Nurul Izzah as deputy president during the party election.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s senior political secretary Shamsul Iskandar Akin has been urged to stop persuading Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad to stay in the cabinet.

Calling the attempt hypocritical, Tuaran PKR division chief Razeef Rakimin pointed out that Shamsul was among the earliest to voice support for Nurul Izzah Anwar to challenge Rafizi for the deputy presidency in the recent party election.

“If Shamsul wanted Rafizi to be ‘berjiwa besar’ (magnanimous), this should have started at the beginning of the party election when Anwar, as our party president, asked for Rafizi to be given an easy path and maintained as his deputy.

“However, Shamsul himself was among the earliest to move support for Nurul Izzah to go against Rafizi, against the president’s call.

“Since it was (your) intention to see Rafizi removed, I believe a PKR leader should not be hypocritical after being successful in getting rid of Rafizi and several of his associates,” he said in a statement.

Adding further, Razeef said PKR leaders should move on and stop trying to woo Rafizi and Nik Nazmi, as they resigned based on a principle, where the leaders believe they have lost the party mandate to stay in power.

‘Sulking normal, but counter-productive’

Razeef is a known associate of Rafizi and had contested during the party polls as part of Rafizi’s camp. He won the Tuaran division chief post but lost in the race for a spot in the PKR central leadership council.

Rafizi and Nik Nazmi, who are the economy minister and the natural resources and environmental sustainability minister, respectively, tendered their resignation from Anwar’s cabinet last month after failing to defend their positions during the party election.

Rafizi was defeated by Nurul Izzah in a straight fight, while Nik Nazmi lost his spot as a vice-president.

Shamsul reportedly spoke about the cabinet resignations when met by the media in Malacca earlier today, where he expressed hope that the two leaders would reconsider their decision.

“(Sulking) is normal after an election because sometimes when we lose we would be angry, but this anger would not bring us anywhere, and we should instead ‘muhasabah’ (self-reflect) to bring changes in the country.

“So I hope that the two leaders who really love the party would rethink their decision, it would be better if they decide to return (to the cabinet),” Shamsul said, as quoted by Malaysia Gazette.

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