Rafizi: Harapan should reach out to rural voters, not just shout in Parliament

 

Pakatan Harapan should put in more effort to penetrate the rural areas, says former PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli, claiming that it is a straightforward approach to any politician willing to take up the challenge.

“It is not a question of strategy, it is a question of effort.

“If you want to penetrate the rural areas, you have to get politicians who know how to move on the ground, are sincere, and want to know about rural issues, rather than shouting in Parliament.

“[...] It takes a lot more than riding on PKR and Amanah to deliver the Malay votes,” he said when speaking at the Malaysian Student Leaders’ Summit 2021.

Rafizi said that it would take a lot of investment and effort to reach out to people in rural areas, adding that politicians are “short-term minded” by nature and generally do not want to pursue something that will not gain results in one or two years.

The former Pandan MP attributed Harapan's collapse as the ruling government to ineffective collective leadership, claiming that all its strategies were directed towards gaining a majority instead of focusing on the needs of the public.

“Harapan was so focused on becoming the government (again) to the point that it was completely detached and disconnected from the public.

“[...] Unfortunately, when the obsession is about getting the right number to go back to government, you would cross certain lines, and those lines include colluding with the very people you (oppose),” he said.

Moving forward, Rafizi (above) said that the opposition should reflect on its past mistakes and restrategise to form a better functioning opposition in the next general election (GE15).

“Harapan must reflect that competence in government is as important as the ideals that you sell to the public. Had Harapan gone back to (becoming the ruling) government, it would have still failed.

“It is not enough nowadays to just sell reform ideals and say we are less corrupt than the other person. Let the public judge that.

“But if you become a government and a minister, it is incumbent upon you to actually do a proper job and competence is very important. Which is, I think, still a big question mark on both sides,” he said.

First public appearance

Last December, Rafizi warned PKR party president Anwar Ibrahim about surrounding himself with opportunists, calling on him to act immediately against certain individuals in the party.

He believed the individuals to be “scoundrels and opportunists” that brought a dangerous culture to the political party.

This is Rafizi’s first public appearance since he effectively ruled himself out of politics in 2019 after a defeat to Azmin Ali in the PKR party elections for the deputy president's post at the end of 2018.

When asked about his thoughts on Anwar Ibrahim’s current leadership, he said no one else could do it better at the present moment.

“I don’t think it is fair to put all the blame on one person as we often lose perspective of what we have achieved in the past 20 years.

“Whatever we have achieved (so far) was partly due to the principled stand he (Anwar) took in 1998; otherwise, I would not be here."

PKR supporters have been clamouring for the return of Rafizi and Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah as the party rebuilds towards GE15, expected to take place before July 2023.  - Mkini