Shahril, KJ see Nurul Izzah as current favourite in PKR race

 Shahril Hamdan and Khairy Jamaluddin feel that the PKR vice-president has the edge over Rafizi Ramli, who seeks re-election as deputy president.

Khairy Jamaluddin (left) and Shahril Hamdan noted that the party elections carried political risks for PKR, depending on who emerged victorious. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA:

 Two former Umno leaders believe that Nurul Izzah Anwar is in the lead in the race for the PKR deputy presidency, and suggest that the party is rallying behind her although she returned only recently to frontline politics.

Shahril Hamdan said Nurul Izzah’s sudden entry into the race had upset the status quo. It was initially expected that the PKR presidency and deputy presidency would not be contested.

“And within a week, we can see that the ‘establishment’ is with her,” said Shahril, a former Umno information chief, in the latest episode of the Keluar Sekejap podcast.

Shahril then remarked on Rafizi’s “unique” style of campaigning, when the latter recently urged party members to vote for Nurul Izzah, a remark which Rafizi later admitted was him just being cynical.

Shahril also noted that Rafizi had threatened to resign from his ministerial post if he lost at the election next week, which the former felt was a calculated move to frame the contest.

“I feel he is being cheeky. He’s saying he would resign if he loses but at the same time suggesting that some people – maybe Nurul Izzah – lost in the general election but still want to contest.”

Khairy Jamaluddin said the context of her loss in the 2022 general election mattered.

“Yes, there’s talk that she couldn’t even win her seat, so why contest? But we need to look at the context. There was a huge wave in the north. Even someone like Reezal Merican Naina Merican (of Umno) couldn’t defend Kepala Batas,” said Khairy, a former Umno Youth chief.

“Sometimes, voters pick the candidate. Sometimes they don’t even look at who’s contesting. That’s politics,” he said.

Both men noted that the party elections carried political risks for PKR, depending on who emerged victorious.

“If Rafizi wins, people might say there’s a split with Anwar. If Nurul Izzah wins, then Perikatan Nasional will harp on nepotism,” Shahril said.

Khairy played down the long-term impact of either outcome, saying the people would have moved on by the next general election.

“If Rafizi wins, he’ll build a new narrative that there’s no movement to reject Anwar. If Izzah wins, the script is already there – she’ll say people voted her in and that every party has family members involved. It’s defensible,” Khairy said.

He also highlighted the differing campaign styles of the two candidates, with Rafizi focussing heavily on data and graphs to highlight declining support among Malay, Chinese and Indian voters – a strategy he said was aimed at showing that the latter is “best equipped” to fix the party’s challenges.

“Izzah, to her credit, hasn’t focussed on Rafizi. She’s focussed on unity within PKR,” Khairy said. - FMT