Rafizi Ramli, who is in the midst of consulting his stakeholders, including God, on his possible return to active politics should be a leader instead of a follower, according to Zaid Ibrahim.
“From what I have read about him, he is more suited as the boss and should not waste time to accommodate and appease lesser leaders.
“Be a Steve Jobs or a Lenin,” the former minister told Malaysiakini, referring to the Apple Inc founder and Soviet Union leader respectively.
Asked if he considered PKR president Anwar Ibrahim as one of those “lesser leaders”, Zaid (above) declined to comment.
The former PKR member was responding to claims that Rafizi is too thin-skinned for politics, especially in Malaysia, where politicians with the thickest hides rise up the leadership rungs.
As the clock ticks down to the PKR election in April, there have been growing calls for Rafizi, who is an appointed vice-president, to contest for a leadership position again.
Rafizi withdrew from politics at the end of 2019, a year after Pakatan Harapan won the 14th general election and his failure to unseat the then PKR number two Azmin Ali in the party polls.
On Wednesday, the former Pandan MP told Malaysiakini that he needs to take into account numerous considerations before deciding on his comeback.
“I will consider and consult my stakeholders, including God,” he quipped.
‘Get members to accept radical ideas’
Rafizi, who was a household name due to exposing several corruption scandals before falling off the political radar, also claimed that PKR and its allies might not be receptive to his “radical” approach and ideas.
Commenting on this, Zaid said as a PKR vice-president, Rafizi should be able to influence the party to accept his “radical ideas, whatever that entails”.
“If he can't, he should form his own party. Unlike me, he is known for his ability to raise money. So that is the way out of his predicament,” he added.
Similar to Rafizi, Zaid had also unsuccessfully contested the PKR deputy president post against Azmin in 2010.
He then resigned from the party, accusing the leadership of electoral fraud in the party election.
In the same year, Zaid formed the multiracial party Kita but resigned as its chairperson two years later.
Azmin, on the other hand, defected from PKR with a group of lawmakers aligned with him, triggering the collapse of the Harapan federal government after just 22 months in power. - Mkini
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