Two PKR leaders woo grassroots on nationwide tours amid power struggle in Malaysia’s ruling party

IPOH, Malaysia - Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) has chosen Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to continue as party president, but the heart of the battle for Malaysia’s lead ruling party lies in how the rank and file view its reform agenda, and the compromises made to hold together a disparate coalition of strange bedfellows.

In the lead-up to PKR’s May 23 internal elections, its two prominent leaders, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli and party vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, have embarked on separate nationwide tours to whip up grassroots support and shape the party’s future leadership.

Datuk Seri Rafizi, 47, is defending his position as PKR deputy president through his Jelajah Hiruk (Noisy Tour), engaging with party members at nine locations across Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak. He is using the word “hiruk” as the short form for “hidupkan idealisme reformasi dalam ujian kuasa” in the Malay language, which means “reviving the idealism of reform while in power”.

Mr Rafizi hopes to fire up party members to return to PKR’s reform credentials, amid criticisms that it has abandoned many of its reform promises.

“This contest is about preserving the soul of the party and making sure that whatever is the outcome, I think I advocate taking a much longer view about the party’s survival,” Mr Rafizi told reporters after his rally in Ipoh, Perak, on May 18.

From Ipoh to Seremban, and on to Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, Mr Rafizi told party members to return to PKR’s core values.

Holding separate grassroots meetings, Ms Nurul Izzah, 44, is

trying to stage a comeback

with her nationwide Damai Tour (Peace Tour) covering seven locations in Peninsular and East Malaysia, as a challenger to the deputy president’s post. She is currently one of seven PKR vice-presidents and, until recently, co-chaired a secretariat that advises the finance minister, a position currently held by her father, Datuk Seri Anwar.

Her surprise bid for the party’s No. 2 post came amid tensions between Mr Anwar and Mr Rafizi.

“We don’t have time to fight amongst ourselves, we have to fight those who want to destroy our country and fight about race issues,” Ms Nurul Izzah said at a campaign stop in the capital Kuala Lumpur on May 15, to loud cheers from the crowds.

She is seen as having an edge to win the post, with tacit support from her father and open support from over half of the 222 party cabang (division) leaders.

“Both candidates have their strengths, and while the outcome remains difficult to predict, recent momentum appears to favour Nurul Izzah at the grassroots level,” Dr Mazlan Ali, a senior lecturer at the Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, told The Straits Times.

The battle will shape the trajectory of PKR, the lead party in Malaysia’s multi-coalition government. Mr Anwar, 77, will serve his third and final term as PKR president between 2025 and 2028, when Malaysia’s next general election is due to take place.

PKR has long

struggled with internal turbulence

caused by deep-seated factionalism and power tussles.

The party’s roots go back to 1998, soon after Mr Anwar’s sacking as deputy prime minister by then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

PKR launched itself as a reform party, with Ms Nurul Izzah its Puteri Reformasi (Reform Princess). It was united in the early years by standing up against Tun Dr Mahathir, who was trying to stamp out the rebellion started by Mr Anwar.

But that unity has since frayed under the weight of ambition and relentless contest for influence, with the party – in alliance with others – winning federal power in both the 2018 and 2022 general elections.

In the ongoing campaign, Mr Rafizi has taken an aggressive approach as the underdog in the contest for deputy presidency. His recent podcast appearance on May 10 garnered 287,000 views on Facebook, reflecting significant public interest.

Dr Mazlan said: “Between the two, Rafizi has taken a more aggressive approach... openly criticising the PKR leadership and questioning the party’s electoral process, which he alleges is flawed.”

However, Mr Rafizi’s confrontational style has unsettled some within the party, who feel he is exposing internal weaknesses, said Dr Mazlan.

In contrast, Ms Nurul Izzah is seen to be attempting to convey a calmer, more measured tone, rallying party grassroots to work together to bolster the party.

Retiree Ho Khek Woon, who is not a party member but attended the gathering in Kuala Lumpur on May 15, praised her oratory skills and noted that she made no personal attacks.

“She is able to sway the emotions of the audience. I believe she will make a good leader and in the future, she will make a good prime minister,” he told ST.

But a party insider, who declined to be named, aligns with Mr Rafizi’s expressed concerns, saying: “If she wins, nepotism and cronyism that we used to fight against in the past will stick and haunt us forever.”

PKR has had only two presidents since its formation: Datuk Seri Wan Azizah and her spouse, Mr Anwar; and soon, their daughter Nurul Izzah will be positioned in line to be its third president, should she win the deputy president’s post in the coming party polls.

Mr Rafizi had shocked the party on May 18 by deciding not to officiate the opening ceremony of the national congress of its youth and women’s wings to be held on May 22, saying he made this decision as he was not invited to launch PKR’s election machinery on May 17 in Sabah ahead of the state elections. That event was instead launched by Ms Nurul Izzah.

Mr Rafizi told reporters at his Ipoh rally: “Certain lines have been crossed in the party... I am still the deputy president, I am still the election director, and it shouldn’t have happened that you openly sideline the sitting deputy president and election director just for the sake of campaigning, and using the party machinery.

“The moment you cross certain lines, then you are setting a very dangerous precedent.”

Supporters of Mr Rafizi have another major complaint: They are unhappy with the outcome of the party’s divisional polls in April, where several of his key allies lost.

“Many of the grassroots don’t trust the system. Those who lost were mostly from Rafizi’s team. For us, the reform agenda is still alive. For the other side, because of power, reform is dead,” one party member who travelled from southern Negeri Sembilan state to attend Mr Rafizi’s Ipoh rally told ST.

At the Ipoh rally, Mr Khomol Nirmol, a member of the party’s youth council in the Jempol division in Negeri Sembilan, told ST: “Rafizi has a solid track record as economy minister and remains committed to the reform agenda. He still enjoys widespread support.”

Others see Mr Rafizi being defeated in the imminent party polls. Said Asian Studies Professor James Chin of Tasmania University: “At the present moment, all signs are that Anwar is supporting Nurul, so she is likely to win.”