Bersama’s agenda risks backfiring on Rafizi, Nik Nazmi, analyst warns

 Azmi Hassan asks if Bersama’s platform was capable of offering something that is politically distinctive.

Is Bersama’s agenda too tightly bound to former ministers Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, asks a political analyst.

PETALING JAYA:

Bersama’s newly-unveiled 12‑point agenda will intensify scrutiny on former Cabinet ministers Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, inviting voters to revisit their ministerial records and judge their performance while in office, says an analyst.

Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara said this was the political risk built into the platform itself.

He said many of Bersama’s manifesto promises touch directly on areas both men had influence over while in government.

“They appear to be nothing more than a delayed set of ideas rather than a fresh, new agenda for the country.”

For Azmi, the issue was not so much whether the 12 points looked attractive on paper. Instead, the question is why no visible groundwork was laid when the duo were in positions of authority.

Rafizi served as economy minister in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration from December 2022 until his resignation in June 2025, while Nik Nazmi was natural resources and environmental sustainability minister during the same period but stepped down one month earlier.

Both stepped down from their posts after losing their positions at the party polls, held last year.

Azmi said the “problem” was “most obvious” in areas such as social protection, economic planning, labour dependency, green transition and other reform-heavy portfolios, all now folded into Bersama’s platform.

On the broader political effect of the agenda, Azmi said it made Bersama look too tightly bound to the two men.

“Basically, it is a Rafizi plus Nik Nazmi agenda,” he said.

Azmi said the plan was “very dangerous” because it gave the impression that Bersama’s reform agenda reflects the vision of the two ex-ministers rather than a wider leadership bench.

This, he said, narrowed the party’s political appeal and raised the stakes for both men personally.

“If the agenda fails to convince, the failure would not be seen as the party’s alone, but as a reflection of their lack of credibility,” he added.

Azmi also questioned whether Bersama’s platform was capable of capturing the imagination of the electorate by offering something that is politically distinctive.

“Nothing is very new and nothing is out-of-the-box. There is nothing to attract the people’s trust towards Bersama.”

Azmi pointed to Bersama’s promise of automatic targeted aid, which he said was tied to Rafizi’s previous economy portfolio and his role in introducing the national central database hub, Padu.

This, he said, gave rise to questions about whether Rafizi has proven his ability to build the necessary machinery for successful aid delivery.

The same questions arise with regard to pledges touching national planning, wage growth, housing affordability, energy transition and sustainability, said Azmi.

“Bersama now speaks with the confidence of a party offering solutions, but voters are likely to assess the party’s leaders against what they did when they were in government.”

On May 17, Rafizi and Nik Nazmi announced they were leaving PKR and relinquishing their parliamentary seats to take over Bersama.

They also announced a 12-point agenda involving a new national social security system, universal childcare, affordable housing, as well as housing, education and healthcare reforms.

The newly-revived party’s pledges also included driving economic growth, empowering SMEs, modernising agriculture, working towards energy transition and establishing institutional independence. - FMT