Will Rafizi’s aura hamper BN’s resurgence among voters?

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KUALA LUMPUR – Recently, former Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli revealed that a simulation exercise conducted during the Johor state election showed almost 40,000 voters who were previously sitting on the fence were shifting their support to Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN).

Worried about such a trend, Rafizi finally decided to return to the political stage and confirmed that he would contest for the post of PKR deputy president in the next party election.

PKR will hold elections for its leadership posts for the period 2022 to 2025, from May 13 to 18.

The re-emergence of Rafizi, a former PKR vice-president, has actually been awaited by many. From supporters of Pakatan Harapan (PH), especially PKR, to ordinary citizens, there have been expectations of him to return to the political arena.

Jamaie Hamil, a senior lecturer of political science at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, regards Rafizi’s reappearance as giving new light to PH in facing the upcoming 15th general election (GE15).

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Muhyiddin is even more popular than ‘bossku’ Najib: Rafizi

KUALA LUMPUR – Former Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli rubbished notions that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is popular among voters due to his “bossku” campaign and social media presence.

In fact, Rafizi said, Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is more popular among voters than the Pekan MP.

"Najib’s ratings as a prime ministerial candidate is low and he has the most negative perception among voters.

“There’s nothing to suggest he is really popular, there’s just a lack of counter-narrative against him.”

Instead, Rafizi suggested that Najib and his team have been actively creating a perception of popularity.

He said Najib makes sure there are crowds to greet him whenever he is on his visits.

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Rafizi more focused on recreating GE14 ‘aura’, not deputy president spot

KUALA LUMPUR – Losing the party deputy president race in May will not be a big deal for former Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli as he is more focused on recreating the “aura” for Pakatan Harapan (PH) that had led to the winning of the 2018 general election.

“If we do not restore public support, it will not matter if I’m deputy president as PH and PKR are in dire straits.

“If something similar to what happened during the Johor polls repeats itself, then we will be in a terrible situation like how it was in 2004,” he said after the launch of the Ayuh Malaysia initiative late last night.

Present at the event were Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, Ledang MP Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, Johor Baru MP Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir and Tg Malim MP Chang Lih Kang.

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Rafizi: Pakatan, PKR need to mobilise fence-sitters and ‘average Joes’, core support lies with them

KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 — The core movers and supporters of Pakatan Harapan (PH) and PKR are the fence-sitters and the “average Joe” who are not actively vested in politics, former PKR’s leader Rafizi Ramli said.

In a meeting with senior editors today, the former Pandan MP and once a trailblazing figure in Malaysian politics, said that it is crucial for them to “energise” the demographic in order to appeal to them or seek their voluntary manpower.

“I can’t speak for PKR or PH because I am really an outsider. It’s quite obvious, you know. But what we have learned from the last general election is that a lot of the goodwill for PH and PKR are actually not from the party members,” he said.

“Actually it has a lot of support from fence-sitters. You know by nature, fence-sitters are either middle-class or they are slightly more progressive or they are more urban. So they don’t love to be directly involved in politics, but they are very politically aware.

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Be realistic about our election chances, Rafizi tells PH

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan should be realistic about the coalition’s changes at the next general election and not be overconfident of victory, according to PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli.

He said it would be better for PKR and PH to settle for remaining in opposition “with dignity” than to trumpet their optimism about winning the 15th general election.

“We have to ensure the balance between the government and the opposition blocs. PH and PKR must be a functional opposition that could play the check and balance role,” he said.

In an interview with Sinar Harian, he acknowledged that his view was not favoured by PH leaders. However, the coalition must not be in denial about their election chances, especially as voters themselves did not believe PH was able to win.

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Be prepared to lose 2 more GEs, Nurul Izzah tells PH

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan will need at least 10 more years or two general elections before it can retake the federal government, says Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar.

The former PKR vice-president told Sinar Harian she foresaw PH having a tough time in GE15 and losing many parliamentary and state seats.Echoing her party colleague Rafizi Ramli, Nurul Izzah said PH needed to become an opposition bloc “with dignity” and offer voters something that was different yet more realistic compared to GE14.

“I feel that it won’t be easy for PH to win in the coming general election and we have to be prepared to lose two rounds (of general elections) before the people can accept us again.

“I’m being very realistic because, to me, it will take time for our ‘product differentiation’ to succeed. Because the people and, even myself, are still traumatised over what happened when PH was in government for 22 months ” she said.

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Aim to win, not wait 10 years, Loke tells PH

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook has disagreed with Nurul Izzah Anwar’s view that Pakatan Harapan will need at least 10 more years or two general elections before it can retake the federal government.

Loke said PH component parties needed to have a greater desire to win the next general election (GE15) rather than “conceding defeat before even entering the arena”.

“I disagree with the view that we have to wait 10 years. If that’s the case, we might as well just make way for Barisan Nasional (to form the next government).

“So PH must have the aim of winning though the challenges ahead might be difficult, instead of saying we won’t win when we haven’t entered the arena. Or else, our party members won’t have the spirit,” he said in a press conference tonight.

Loke did not mention Nurul Izzah by name. However, his remarks about a “10-year wait” are a reference to what Nurul Izzah said recently, that she foresaw PH having a tough time in GE15 and losing many parliamentary and state seats.

Nurul Izzah, a former PKR vice-president, agreed with the view of vice-president Rafizi Ramli and said PH needed to become an opposition bloc “with dignity” and offer voters something that was different yet more realistic compared to its platform for the 2018 general election.

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Nurul Izzah’s needlessly tardy 10-year wait

From Terence Netto

Nurul Izzah Anwar envisages that Pakatan Harapan will need two election cycles or a period of 10 years to find conditions that will enable its return to power.

Right now, recent victories in state polls in Melaka and Johor semaphore the message that BN are sliding back to the top – “sliding” because even when they had a thumping win in Melaka and an impressive one in Johor, BN are not the monarch of all it surveys in both states.

Internal ructions in Melaka Umno and palace countermands in Johor suggest that dominant victories at the polls do not translate into smooth sailing to the levers of power.

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