RAFIZI, PKR's Dragon Slayer

KUALA LUMPUR -- The National Feedlot Corporation scandal has shot PKR director of strategy Rafizi Ramli to stardom overnight.

In the upcoming general elections, he will be contesting the Pandan parliamentary seat on a PKR ticket against, probably, the incumbent 22-year MP Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat.

Despite the fact that he is only a rookie fighting against a powerful opponent, Rafizi said he was never fearful as the voters wanted change, and would vote for a party rather than the candidate per se.

The desire for change has far superseded the assessment for individual candidates. Voters will have to choose between a change of administration or sticking to the existing regime.

As a result, while the quality of a candidate is very important, a more vital consideration would be the party he or she represents.

Rafizi said the 13th General Elections would be a battle between BN and Pakatan Rakyat. Every seat is very important and the party has looked into the overall situation when selecting a candidate for the Pandan parliamentary seat.

While he agrees that the image of Ong Tee Keat is better than most MCA leaders, Rafizi stressed that the battle in Pandan was not between two individuals but two opposing parties.

He said most of the voters here belonged to the working class and as such, economic issues would be the most pertinent, along with environment, free education, water and security issues.

Rapport with young Chinese voters

There are about 14,000 young voters in Pandan, and these are the people Rafizi will fight hard to win the support of.

He said voters below the age of 40 were more passionate about the elections, and would openly express their vote inclinations while middle-age voters were less willing to divulge their intentions.

"From my rapport with the local voters, I was really encouraged by the positive responses from Chinese Malaysians."

Rafizi started his political career from the Reformasi movement in 1998. He said although he did not have any intention of joining politics back then, he still took part in the street demonstrations.

"I was no worshipper of Anwar Ibrahim nor did I hate Umno. I was very much influenced by the media back then. I had the feeling that information flow was being manipulated by the authorities and some of the information we received was not accurate.

"We needed additional channels and voices to get closer to the truth."

Rafizi said he chose PKR when he made up his mind to join politics, because the party's struggle transcended the boundaries of race, and it never played the dirty political tricks but was truly concerned about the issues pertaining to all Malaysians.

He said he was particularly concerned about issues related to public interests.

"I didn't attempt to protrude myself as a whistleblower, but what I revealed has left an indelible impression among the people."

"I know I could be sued for revealing the irregularities of the Federal government, but I'm not afraid as I have the evidence in black and white."

-Sin Chew Daily