Anwar-Rafizi Era Starting On Right Track

SHAH ALAM, Jul 18 – Talk of an apparent conflict between KEADILAN president Anwar Ibrahim and his newly elected deputy, Rafizi Ramli, has left party delegates unimpressed, with some insisting that the pair could work together.

Rafizi’s jibes and Anwar’s riposte had taken centre stage at the party congress at the weekend, with some saying that the partnership was off to a shaky start.

Observers had claimed that the clash of personalities might create a rift in the country’s largest multiracial party.

“All this gossip around them is normal to create friction among party members,” said Aziz Danial, a member of KEADILAN’s Port Dickson branch.

He said that judging by their statements on Sunday, “it’s very clear that they can work together, it’s just that they have different ideologies and approaches”.

Aziz said Rafizi’s return to active politics after a two-year absence was a boost to the party.

“Rafizi is younger and more aggressive and Anwar is an experienced politician, so it’s a good mix,” he said.

Most of the reports about the purported conflict between the two leaders focused on their differing approaches to the “big tent” approach ahead of the next general election.

Anwar is agreeable to working with other opposition parties for a united front to take on Barisan Nasional at the general election, while Rafizi is against the idea.

Another delegate, Syed Mohamed Syed Bahrom, said the leaders’ speeches showed that the two men had no beef between them.

Syed Mohamed, a branch member from KEADILAN Sungai Siput, said delegates who cared to analyse the men’s speeches would come to the conclusion that they were both on the same page and had no hidden agendas.

Asked about how the two leaders’ clash of personalities would affect the party, PKR Wanita vice-president Sangetha Jayakumar said this was nothing more than the “media over-accentuating the differences of opinion”, which “everyone” in the party had.

“I think the difference between us and some of the parties in the current government is that there are a lot of ‘Yes’ men and bowing and kissing of hands. The bodek (boot licking) culture is there. You don’t have that in KEADILAN,” she said.