Parti Bersama Malaysia’s first public outreach programme in Pandan today will serve as a template for volunteer-led activities nationwide, said former economy minister Rafizi Ramli.
Held at Pasar Pagi Taman Muda, the programme marked the party’s initial public engagement since its formation three weeks ago, and is expected to be replicated nationwide in the coming weeks.
“This is meant to show the template of how we will deploy our volunteers after this, all over the country as well.
“So hopefully in the next one or two weeks, we will start seeing a lot of these mushrooming all around the country,” he told reporters after the event.
Rafizi added that he was initially anxious about returning to Pandan following his decision to vacate the parliamentary seat, admitting he was uncertain how the constituents would react.
However, reception from residents in the area had exceeded his expectations, he said.
“I was quite apprehensive. Because the Pandan voters are so used to coming to my mobile counter… But all those years, I was an MP.
“So, I wasn’t sure if I come down as a regular citizen, either they will throw stones at me, or they will still greet me like usual.
“But I was very happy, to be fair. I mean, I hope you can see it as well. The warmth is still there,” he said.
Membership nears 24k, state election plans
The former PKR deputy president also revealed that Bersama’s membership is expected to surpass 24,000 today, although registration rates have cooled after an initial surge following the party’s launch.
“I checked this morning, it is about 23,900-something. It’s crossing 24,000 today. The rate so far is between about 400 and 500 (applications) a day,” he said.
Additionally, Rafizi confirmed that Bersama will contest the Negeri Sembilan state election. This comes after the party announced earlier this week that it plans to field candidates in Johor.
He said party leaders will meet activists in Negeri Sembilan next week to evaluate prospective seats, replicating an exercise already carried out in Johor.
“For Johor, we’ve gone through that process of sitting down with Bersama’s key activists in Johor, basically to match our first cut of seats that we want to contest with their view and assessment on the ground.
“So, we will do that for Negeri Sembilan next week… we will go through that process so that closer to the nomination day, we will announce which seats we will be contesting in Johor and Negeri Sembilan,” he said.
Unconventional strategy
When asked about its electoral preparations, Rafizi described contesting two state elections less than a month after Bersama’s launch as “crazy and near impossible” as the party is simultaneously introducing itself to voters, expanding its membership, and building its election machinery.
“But it’s a challenge that I would like to take up because it’s precisely because we know that we have such a short time that we design Bersama to be very different from how other parties are run for elections,” he said.
Rafizi said Bersama was designed to overcome such challenges by relying on a flat organisational structure, crowdsourced resources, and digital infrastructure, rather than traditional branch and division networks.
He added that the party also intends to distinguish itself from traditional political parties through its campaign style, messaging, and candidate selection.
“We will put up a competent and sexy campaign. A campaign election is all about who is more hype or funky.
“It’s a social media world. I think we will be able to put a more flavourful campaign that could attract more regular people, no matter Gen Z or millennials,” he added.
As part of its campaign, Bersama is expected to field younger, highly educated candidates from diverse backgrounds, with Rafizi saying the party hopes to provide a platform for professionals in their 30s and 40s who have become disillusioned with mainstream politics.
“Actually, there are a lot of those educated Malaysians who previously felt disillusioned about politics, and therefore, they don’t want to get involved.
“We hope Bersama gives them that platform. And I think voters deserve options where politicians or candidates are of that quality.”
Rafizi previously launched Bersama’s nationwide “Jelajah Kancil”, which will kick off in Johor Bahru tonight, coinciding with Harapan’s Johor election machinery launch in Batu Pahat. - Mkini
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