Malaysia’s PKR faces existential threat as disenchanted veterans drift to splinter party Bersama

MELAKA – While leaders of Malaysia’s ruling Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) took stock of its uncertain political future at the Melaka International Trade Centre on Aug 15, its former deputy president, Rafizi Ramli, was in a more festive mood.

At a suburban bungalow just 20 minutes away, Rafizi, who now leads the nascent Parti Bersama Malaysia, was stirring a large pot of asam pedas – the sour and spicy fish stew popular in the southern state and Johor.

Rafizi was attending a party get-together ahead of the Melaka state election. But with 1990s songs playing in the background, the gathering felt more akin to a Malay “kenduri”, or a feast, than a political event.

“We want the Malaysian multiracial vibe, and I kind of like this actually,” said the former economy minister.

With around 350 guests clad in Bersama yellow, the atmosphere was festive. It was the complete opposite to the solemn and introspective mood at PKR’s four-day national congress.

There, the introspection comes as PKR grapples with its most significant challenge since taking over Putrajaya in 2022 – suffering major defeats in recent state elections in Johor and Negeri Sembilan.

Added to this crisis, top leaders have also followed Rafizi to Bersama, including former MPs Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and Wong Chen.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s daughter Nurul Izzah said on Aug 7 she would step down as deputy president – attributed by the party as a study break.

With its current predicament seeming bleak, nostalgia was difficult to resist. Party president Anwar even made a rare appeal for estranged veterans to return, apologising to those who felt sidelined.

Is PKR worried about Bersama’s rising membership?

Bersama may have lost in the state elections, but it had also managed a “surge” in enrolment, according to Rafizi on Aug 12. He said some 29,200 members have joined since it was formed in May. He said 25 per cent of those came from PKR. But it was still minuscule, considering PKR now counts over one million members, information chief Fahmi Fadzil said in May.

Those who stayed said the exodus of top leaders has left a gaping hole in the party.

Acting Melaka PKR chairman Adam Adli acknowledged that Bersama could pose an existential threat by giving disenchanted members an alternative.

“We cannot deny that there are many differences in terms of political positions… and we cannot avoid the fact that Bersama exists,” the Deputy Higher Education Minister told The Straits Times on the sidelines of the congress.

Other members also expressed their dismay over their absence, such as Melaka PKR Youth information chief Hakim Hafizudin.

“Back then we’d still talk to each other and joke around, now they’re no longer here and there’s nothing we can do about it,” he said.

Both Adam and PKR Youth chief Kamil Munim pointed to how both PKR and Bersama are appealing to the same voter demographic.

“We saw this in two seats – Bukit Batu and Perling, where we lost by very narrow majorities,” he told reporters on Aug 14, referring to two former Pakatan Harapan (PH) strongholds lost to Barisan Nasional (BN) at the July 11 Johor polls.

In Bukit Batu, BN won by just 174 votes, while Bersama took 821. In Perling, PH lost by 1,611 votes, with Bersama taking 2,996.

Kamil also conceded that some members of the Youth wing had left for Bersama, but was adamant that they were “not significant enough to hurt the party”.

“We cannot deny that there have been applications from party members to leave,” he said. “But according to our reports, the number is not particularly significant.”

The reality on the ground may, however, differ. At a PKR branch in Iskandar Puteri, Johor, its vice-chief Ulaganathan Krishna told ST that his branch “is crumbling” due to a lack of direction from the central leadership.

“I’ve got 87 members under me waiting for me to leave for Bersama,” he said. “But I may just resign entirely from politics.”

What Bersama offers former PKR members

This situation was ostensibly sparked by a closely watched party election in May 2025, which saw Rafizi contesting against Nurul Izzah for the party’s No. 2 position.

Nurul Izzah eventually won. The next two months would see Rafizi and Nik Nazmi resigning from their government posts.

For former PKR members, Rafizi’s personality is not the main driver to jump ship to Bersama. Instead, they said the splinter party gives them a chance to continue fighting for reform, since PKR is considered increasingly focused on self-preservation.

They pointed to how PKR is seemingly capitulating to ally Democratic Action Party (DAP) and BN, the coalition led by former rival-turned-friend UMNO.

One of those is Stanley Tan, 54, who had served as a parliamentary officer to the Johor Bahru MP. He said PH is acting as it currently does after it has tasted federal power. “Instead of fulfilling the promises to your voters, you become the very thing you swore not to become in the first place,” Tan told ST.

Ubaidillah Harith Sahrin, 35, a former PKR branch chief in Melaka’s Masjid Tanah, said he joined Bersama as a reaction to PKR members turning their backs on him when he backed Rafizi in PKR’s divisive 2025 party election. He said he did so to protest against what he saw as Anwar’s failure to deliver on anti-corruption promises. “Since then it was as if my branch had a different head and a different body,” he said.

Political scientist and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia associate professor Mazlan Ali said Bersama’s impact should not be measured simply by the number of PKR members who have left, but by the loss of PKR’s prospective future leaders. “After Rafizi left, and now that Nurul Izzah has also resigned, the reality is that they were two of PKR’s pillars,” he said.

Mazlan believes the confidence crisis within PKR is much greater and that perhaps “half” of PKR has already become weakened owing to the departures.

He suggested that the party may have been hit hard by Rafizi’s data-based criticisms, which has also influenced public sentiment towards PKR.

“Looking ahead, with Anwar approaching 80, the question of who can eventually take over the party is becoming harder to ignore,” he said. “I cannot see who else in PKR would be able to replace Anwar.”