PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli has challenged R Ramanan's claim that Nurul Izzah Anwar's leadership could secure between 70 and 80 parliamentary seats for the party.
During a ceramah in Pahang last night, Rafizi mockingly questioned Ramanan's arithmetic skills while dissecting the numbers behind the claim.
Ramanan (above, right), who is a PKR vice-presidential candidate, had previously called for Nurul Izzah's appointment as PKR's election director, attributing the party's record 47 parliamentary seats in the 14th general election to her leadership.
He added that with Nurul Izzah leading the charge this time around, he believes the party could secure 70 or 80 parliamentary seats.
"Ramanan is backing Nurul Izzah to become deputy president, because, according to him, my performance as election director wasn’t up to scratch. That’s fine, it’s his right.
“He says he supports Nurul Izzah for deputy president because she apparently has a formula to win 80 seats in the next general election.
"Did he even calculate how many seats we actually contested?” Rafizi asked.
The economy minister pointed out that in the last general election, PKR had contested 72 parliamentary constituencies in the peninsula, 12 in Sabah, and 16 in Sarawak, making it a total of 100 seats.
“If the goal is to win 80 seats, that means we’d need a success rate of 80 percent," Rafizi said.
He added that, other than DAP, which contests in non-Malay majority areas, no party in the last seven or eight years has managed to win 80 percent of the seats it contested.
Rafizi also questioned how many seats PKR is even able to contest.
Last week, Rafizi delivered a sarcastic response to Ramanan after the PKR deputy information chief claimed that grassroots members were growing disappointed with top leaders becoming "inaccessible" after gaining power.
Rafizi said that unlike Ramanan's former party, MIC, PKR functions as a reformist organisation that lacks the financial resources needed to extensively support grassroots needs.
Existing formula
The incumbent party deputy president explained that the 100 constituencies were contested when Pakatan Harapan faced BN and Perikatan Nasional separately, with no overlapping seats.
When allocating constituencies for the state polls in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Penang, he said Harapan followed a formula based on the 15th general election results.
"Between the two coalition partners, Harapan and BN, we assessed which party had finished second in each constituency. The runner-up was then granted the right to contest that seat.
"Out of the 72 parliamentary seats in the peninsula, how many did we win in the last general election? (It was) 29. One in Sabah, one in Sarawak – Sepanggar and Miri – that makes 31.
“So, if we go by the existing formula, realistically, if PKR contests again, just in the peninsula, we’d only get to contest 29 plus 16 seats. That’s 45 seats. How are we supposed to win 80 seats?" he asked.
It’s looking like 50 seats only
At best, Rafizi said PKR might only be able to contest 50 seats, pointing out that the party would still need to negotiate seat allocations with the component parties in the coalition government.
"But if we go by Ramanan’s logic, I just can’t see how we’d win 80 seats. That’s why I say: when it comes to choosing leaders, we must evaluate carefully.
“We need someone with a proven track record in elections, someone who truly understands the pulse on the ground, what’s happening at the grassroots level.
"So choose wisely. Choose someone who understands the numbers, who can calculate and strategise properly. Not someone who just throws ideas out randomly," Rafizi urged.
The ceramah in Pahang is part of Rafizi's nationwide campaign tour called “Jelajah Hiruk”.
The economy minister is defending his deputy presidency against Nurul Izzah in the PKR central leadership election on May 23.
Nurul Izzah is a PKR vice-president, having been appointed to the position in 2022. - Mkini
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