Nurul Izzah is PKR's new No. 2
Fresh off victory, party deputy eyes pushing internal reforms and GE16
JOHOR BARU: Newly elected PKR deputy president Nurul Izzah Anwar wants to focus on rallying efforts within the party and internal reforms to head towards the 16th General Election.
Fresh off her victory in PKR's elections, she said her main focus will be on integrating all efforts within the party.
'Secondly, I want to implement internal reforms and move towards the next general election.
'I also ask for your prayers as my husband and I will be heading for Mecca to perform the haj after the party congress,' she said when asked about her reaction to winning against incumbent Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli.
She was met by reporters at the launch of the PKR National Congress at Persada Johor International Convention Centre here yesterday.
Nurul Izzah won party's number two post with 9,803 votes against Economy Minister Rafizi.
Meanwhile, when asked how he felt after the announcement of the official results, Rafizi said the focus should be on Nurul Izzah instead of him.
The congress will continue at the same venue today.
Nurul Izzah's victory had been predicted for weeks by observers, who claimed that sentiment among PKR members had soured towards Rafizi.
In the lead up to the election, both of PKR's wings, Wanita and Youth, as well as several of the party's state chapters, had expressed support for Nurul Izzah.
In the vice-president's race, Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari, his Negri Sembilan counterpart Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang, and Deputy Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Minister Datuk Seri R. Ramanan, had clinched the four posts that are up for grabs.
Besides them, a dozen other candidates had vied for the posts, and they include Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, deputy party secretary-general Dr Sathia Prakash Nadarajan, Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin, and Segamat MP Yuneswaran Ramaraj.
Party central committee members Abun Sui Anyit and Hee Loy Sian, Jempol PKR division chief Manivanan Gowin, and veteran leader Mustaffa Kamil Ayub also joined the fray for the vice-president posts.
Elsewhere, 67 candidates vied for 27 seats on the party's central committee.
The top five candidates who managed to clinch positions at the central committee were Datuk Fahmi Fadzil, Adam Adli, Chan Ming Kai, Gunarajah R. George, and Azlan Helmi.
Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek retained her post as Wanita PKR chief, while Muhammad Kamil Abdul Munim became the new Youth chief uncontested.
Fadhlina had been challenged by Ampang MP Rodziah Ismail.
Those elected will serve in their posts from 2025 to 2028, and will likely steer the party into the 16th General Election, expected in early 2028.
Months before the election began, party president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had expressed his wish for the top two posts to be uncontested so as to not affect PKR's performance in the Federal Government.
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Daily Express
5 hours ago
- Daily Express
What next for PKR and Sabah PKR?
Published on: Sunday, June 01, 2025 Published on: Sun, Jun 01, 2025 By: Teddy Chin Text Size: The dust following the party election is just beginning to settle down and Nurul is eager to get to work. What now for PKR? So the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) election has ended. Party president cum PM Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was returned unopposed. His daughter was elected the new Deputy President, defeating incumbent Rafizi Ramli who is a Minister in Anwar's Cabinet. This means that for the first time, PKR is led by a father-daughter team. It's historic in Malaysian politics, too. In his closing address at the PKR Congress, Anwar shot down talks of nepotism. Advertisement Tracing PKR's history, Anwar said when he was going to jail, he persuaded his wife to take over the party which Kak Wan agreed and for which he was grateful. 'It was a difficult time in the young PKR's struggle. At that time nobody said it was nepotism. Few people even dared to join the Opposition. 'But Nurul Izzah was elected by you all,' he reminded the party delegates, to applause from them. Indeed, Nurul Izzah had won from Day One. She got 200 nominations out of 222 parliamentary divisions. Had she lost, there must be something wrong somewhere. The dust following the party election is just beginning to settle down and Nurul is eager to get to work. What now for PKR? Party members expected Rafizi to keep his promise of resigning from his Minister post as he said he would if he lost the Deputy Presidency. The election was held last Friday. Rafizi didn't turn up the next and final day of the party Congress on Saturday in Johor. His press secretary said he had returned to Kuala Lumpur. Then on Monday he showed up at his ministerial office for work as usual and rumours had it that he was at the office to pack and resign. Wrong. Rafizi turned up for work to ask his officers to brief him on his role, if any, during the Asean Summit on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then on Tuesday, he showed up at the Asean meeting in his role as Economy Minister, accompanying the PM. Then on Wednesday, immediately after the Asean 'do', he resigned. It was quite responsible and sporting of him to show up at the Asean function as Economy Minister as required. Had he been absent on purpose, wouldn't that make Malaysia a laughing stock in the eyes of the World particularly Asean? But that's not the end of the story. On the same day, another Minister, Nik Nazmi also resigned following Rafizi's footsteps. Nazmi was in Rafizi's camp during the party election and he failed to defend his Vice-Presidency. But he didn't do too badly. He missed the boat by just about 100 votes. Only four Vice-Presidents were to be elected and Nik Nazmi was No 5. He got 5,556 votes while the No 4 successful candidate, Chang Lih Kang received 5,757 votes. The consolation was that Chang an incumbent and also a Minister, was in Rafizi's camp too. So now there are two vacancies. Expected to be the new Ministers are Nurul Izzah and another successful Vice-President, newcomer Ramanan who got the second highest votes among the four. But this is only on the assumption that the posts will be given back to PKR. For Nurul to be appointed, she would first have to be made a Senator as she is not an elected MP. If indeed Nurul is appointed, it will be another history in the political annals of Malaysia. Will this mean the breaking up of PKR? I don't think so. Nobody is indispensable. Somebody will replace you. As the Malay saying goes, 'Patah Tumbuh, Hilang Berganti'. When you are No.2, then behave like a No.2. The political history of Malaysia, let alone the world, is full of stories of the No.1 ''etting rid' of the No.2 when he becomes suspicious. Azmin Ali used to be Deputy PKR president until he ran foul of Anwar. Perhaps having been Selangor MP for two terms and appointed as Economy Minister by Dr M had some effect. During the last PKR Congress that Azmin attended, he was not even invited to deliver a closing address as Deputy President as was the custom. What a humiliation. But Anwar himself was a victim when he was Dr M's deputy. History repeating itself? The Old Man was probably jealous when an international magazine put Anwar's face on its cover. Anwar was then Finance Minister. Anwar was also given top protocol treatment when he visited USA as if he were the PM. Another incident which could have aroused the Old Man's jealousy was when Malaysia hosted the Commonwealth Conference. There was a dinner hosted by the British Government. It was on the Queen's royal yacht and Queen Elizabeth herself was there as Head of the Commonwealth. In her speech, British PM Margaret Thatcher said: 'If Finance Ministers are transferable, then I don't mind having Mr Anwar as my Finance Minister….' You can imagine how the Old Man felt on hearing that. Moral of the story – Never try to overshadow or outshine your boss! Coming back to the PKR election, no one from Sabah made it to the Supreme Council. Sabah PKR Information Chief Razeef Rakimin who had the blessings of the State PKR Leadership to contest only managed 2,920 votes compared to the last candidate who won and got 4,366 votes. Razeef is also the Tuaran PKR divisional chief and was recently reelected to that post. However, the Tuaran division is believed to be one of the four PKR divisions in Sabah who nominated Rafizi instead of Nurul. He was also not present at Nurul's event at SICC in May but instead attended Rafizi's function at ITCC on the same day. However, it is understood that a few of his divisional committee members defied him and went to SICC instead of ITCC. Sabah PKR chief Datuk Mustapha Sakmud himself did not contest as he would be invited to the party's supreme council meeting as State head. Instead he gave his blessings to Razeef at a press conference. But it is an open secret that Mustapha supported Nurul and was present and gave a speech at SICC when she came. Now that Razeef failed to get elected to the central committee, will his Sabah PKR Information Chief position be at stake or will Nurul replace him with one of her supporters? Datuk Christina Liew perhaps? It remains to be seen. This is politics. Anything can happen. Christina is close to the whole Anwar family including Nurul. When Nurul was in Kota Kinabalu to attend the SICC function, Christina accompanied her to Kota Belud for a party function after that. Another Sabah PKR leader who contested for a seat in the central committee was Sangkar Rasam. He is Keningau PKR head and he got more votes than Razeel although he too lost. He got 3,229 votes compared to Razeef's 2,920. Sangkar's name appeared in Nurul's 'Cai Dan', meaning he was in Nurul's team. Although he lost, he may be appointed to a position by Nurul. But who is this Rasam? A few years ago, he replaced Christina as Sabah PKR chief. How it happened or who was behind him, to borrow Dr M's words, 'I can't remember'. However, late last year or early this year, Rasam in turn was replaced by Mustapha Sakmud. How it happened? Again, I forgot. Anyway, politics is a game of being in the right team. Now that Nurul is elected, Rasam may see his fortunes coming back soon. However, he is neither a MP or Senator or Assemblyman. Mustapha is the MP for Sepanggar and Higher Education Minister. It is also possible that Rasam may replace Razeef as Information Chief. I am not sure how many Nominated or Appointed posts are there to the PKR central committee, if any. Assuming vacancies do exist, both Christina and Rasam stand a chance. However, Sabah PKR women folks had better luck at the party election. Rufinah Pengeran from Pensiangan was elected one of the three Vice Women Chiefs of PKR. She got 2,518 votes, far ahead of her closest rival who received only 1,574 votes. Another Sabah PKR leader who contested but failed to win a seat in the central committee was Dikin Musah who got 1,318 votes. He is the Beaufort PKR divisional chief. If I am not mistaken, he was also the PKR candidate for Beaufort in the 2022 MP election which was won by Umno. Not sure if he was in anybody's camp in the recent election. Now that no Sabah delegate won a seat at the central level, it remains to be seen whether anyone will be appointed and who he or she is. Nearer home, Sabah PKR is now in the safe hands of Datuk Mustapha Sakmud. He took over from Sangkar who in turn took over from Christina Liew. So full circle now. Sabah PKR has been associated with the name Christina for more than a decade. She has been the face of PKR which culminated in her being appointed a Deputy Chief Minister in 2018, the first Chinese woman to hold that post. But all good things must come to an end. In late 2020, the Warisan+ Sabah government which includes PKR and DAP and Upko lost the election and Christina found herself in the Opposition overnight. But as Kak Wan (Anwar's wife) said: 'Manusia merancang, Tuhan turut merancang' (Man plans, God also plans). Early 2022 Christina found herself a Minister again in the same Tourism Ministry after PH (DAP, PKR, Upko) threw their weight behind Hajiji who survived a coup planned by former comrades in Umno. But perhaps not many Sabahans remember that Christina actually took over from the late Datuk Lajim Okin as Sabah PKR chief last time after the latter left PKR to form his own party based in his native Beaufort. Lajim formerly of Umno and Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Mojilip Bumburing joined PKR at about the same time when then Opposition leader Anwar came over to Sabah. Anwar spoke at Bumburing's property in Tuaran and Lajim's hometown in Beaufort. In the 2013 election, Lajim won in Beaufort, Bumburing in Tamparuli and Christina in Api-Api. After the election and the State Assembly sat, an Opposition Leader with official perks was to be elected. The fight for the post was between Lajim and Bumburing. But the Speaker announced that Lajim received more votes from Opposition Assemblymen than Bumburing. Christina became Lajim's deputy. A frustrated Bumburing soon formed Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS), saying that he was never officially a PKR member. PCS is now led by Senator Tan Sri Anifah Aman while Bumburing returned to Upko where he was deputy president (to Dompok). Christina continued to lead Sabah PKR until about a couple of years ago. She even led Sabah PH until she lost to the Upko president recently. To add insult to injury, she even lost her PKR divisional chief post to her aide recently. But by now Christina is mature in politics and she now concentrates on her duties as Tourism Minister and Api-Api Assemblywoman. Being aligned to Nurul, Sabahans have not seen the last of Christina. In fact, when Christina first joined PKR in 2001 and stood in the Likas by-election the same year, the PKR president was still Kak Wan and the Sabah PKR chief was Datin Saidatul Badru Tun Said Keruak, sister of former Chief Minister Datuk Salleh. Lajim and Bumburing were not in PKR yet. That is how long Christina has been in PKR and that explains why she is close to Kak Wan. She supported PKR and Kak Wan when not many Sabahans dared to. She deserves to be rewarded by Anwar and Nurul. She also deserves to be appreciated by CM Hajiji because when Sabah PH threw their weight behind him, Christina was the Sabah PH Chairperson.
Free Malaysia Today
13 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
By-election not worth time or money, says Tengku Zafrul
Tengku Zafrul Aziz denied having discussions for a by-election to pave the way for him to become Selangor menteri besar. PETALING JAYA : Tengku Zafrul Aziz has dismissed speculation of an impending by-election in Selangor to pave the way for him to become menteri besar. Tengku Zafrul, who is investment, trade and industry minister, said no such discussions for a by-election had taken place and it was never a factor in his decision to quit Umno. 'I do not support triggering by-elections without urgent necessity as they incur time and public funds,' he said in a statement. Tengku Zafrul announced his decision to resign as an Umno member, as well as from all party posts, on May 30. He also expressed his intention to join PKR. Tengku Zafrul today said he would continue carrying out his responsibilities until the end of this year. 'As for my position as a minister, I leave this entirely to the discretion of the prime minister. I remain ready to serve the nation in any capacity.' He also reaffirmed that his decision to leave Umno was entirely his own and made without coercion. 'In a democratic society, every individual has the right to make personal choices. I deeply appreciate all the feedback and acceptance extended to me in response to this decision,' Tengku Zafrul said. There has been much speculation over his fate as minister as his final term as senator expires at the end of the year. Also, there is talk of a Cabinet reshuffle following the resignation of Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad from their respective ministerial posts. In a Facebook video previously, former Umno leader Isham Jalil claimed that Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari would be ordered to vacate his Sungai Tua seat to allow Tengku Zafrul to contest in the by-election. Winning the by-election could then allow Tengku Zafrul to take over as menteri besar, as speculated previously, while Amirudin could join Anwar's Cabinet as he is also the Gombak MP at present. Amirudin has also denied speculation that he is set to vacate his state seat to make way for Tengku Zafrul, describing it as just empty talk based on the 'wild imagination' of certain individuals who were seeking to spread that narrative via social media. The PKR vice-president also said he did not want to see a repeat of the 'Kajang Move' in 2014, which culminated in the late Abdul Khalid Ibrahim resigning as the then Selangor menteri besar. FMT quoted political analyst James Chin as saying that any move to get Amirudin to vacate his seat to make way for Tengku Zafrul would damage PKR's image in the eyes of voters and grassroots members.
Free Malaysia Today
13 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
We've lost confidence in Wong Chen, says Subang PKR No 2
Yesterday, Subang MP Wong Chen expressed fear the government led by PKR president Anwar Ibrahim would have little to show in terms of reforms at the end of its term. PETALING JAYA : A Subang PKR leader has expressed a loss of confidence in the constituency's MP, Wong Chen, and suggested he step down from the elected post if the party's struggle no longer aligns with his. Subang PKR deputy chief Wan Hasifi Amin said that Wong's statement yesterday, where he lamented the lack of reforms carried out by the unity government, was unnecessary, especially coming from a PKR MP. Wan Hasifi also claimed that the three-term MP did not attend a single divisional meeting since being elected a PKR central leadership council member in 2022, a post he lost in the party's recent elections. 'And, until now, no Subang Pakatan Harapan committee has been formed, when it could serve as a platform for cooperation among the PH components in the Subang parliamentary constituency. 'As the grassroots machinery, we in Subang PKR want to state our disappointment and loss of confidence in Wong Chen,' he said in a statement. Wan Hasifi called for Wong to be dropped as a candidate in the next general election, saying Subang PKR wanted an MP who is not distant from the grassroots and heeds the voice of the people. 'If Wong Chen feels that (the party's) struggle is no longer aligned with his, then the clear and principled move he should make is to step down (as MP) respectfully.' Yesterday, Wong announced that he was taking a two-week break from work for a family holiday, during which he will ponder his future in politics. The former PKR central leadership council member said he could not shake a deep worry that the government led by PKR president Anwar Ibrahim would have little to show in terms of institutional reforms at the end of its parliamentary term. Wong was aligned with former PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli during the party's elections last month. He lost his seat on the PKR central leadership council, while Rafizi was defeated by Nurul Izzah Anwar and subsequently offered his resignation from the Cabinet. Wong was first elected an MP in 2013, when he won the contest for the Kelana Jaya seat for PKR with a 28,827-vote majority. He was then fielded to contest the Subang seat in 2018, winning by a convincing 92,353 votes before recording a bigger victory in the 2022 general election with a 115,074-vote majority.
