SHAH ALAM, June 17 — After declaring a ceasefire in his ideological war with Rafizi Ramli, PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim pledged to reject any cooperation with traitors and those who do not support the reform agenda.
During a press conference today, Anwar said that he had learned his lesson during Pakatan Harapan (PH)’s short stint in government, which saw a series of betrayals that led to its fall.
“As Keadilan, our role is to strengthen PKR and the PH coalition. When it comes to discussions with others, it does not stop me because I am the Opposition Leader and I have to talk to every Opposition member,” he said after the party’s national congress concluded today.
Commenting on the “big tent” strategy, Rafizi, who is the newly minted PKR deputy president, said the most important thing is to strengthen the PH coalition and come up with coherent policies going into the next general election.
“We can have discussions but that cannot be the foundation or main strategy of PKR or PH because we need to strengthen the party and get back to finding solutions,” he said.
Earlier today, in his first speech as PKR deputy president, Rafizi told Anwar that he would never quit the party but would always maintain his strong and outspoken manner.
He said that while he had a reputation for being blunt, he would not betray the party or Anwar as his predecessor Datuk Seri Azmin Ali did in 2020 with the “Sheraton Move”.
The former Pandan MP had been on hiatus since PH won the 2018 general election.
He had insisted that he did not regret his decision to put politics on the back burner, and had only returned to active politics due to the party’s drubbing in the Johor state election earlier this year.
Upon his return however, he called on party members to start prepping for the next general election which is expected within the next few months.
He also asked party members across the country to lodge police reports against Datuk Seri Najib Razak over what he claimed were lies perpetuated by the convicted former prime minister.
