SHAH ALAM, 1 Feb: The move to place the PKR Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in the Kajang by-election is to ensure that Pakatan Rakyat curbs Umno’s racial political strategy, which is becoming more apparent in fuelling the issue of racial tension.
The PKR Strategy Director, Rafizi Ramli, said that the same incident happened previously in Selangor and the demographics of the state needs the emergence of a national political figure that is able to handle any possible outbreaks of racial tension.
He said that placing Anwar in the Kajang State Legislative Assembly (DUN) is a high-risk move which needs to be taken, in the interest of the public.
“We are taking a big risk in returning the decision to the people. We have explained and we apologise. If our explanation and apologies are not sufficient, Anwar Ibrahim will be punished.
“We are not manipulating the system, like Umno did,” said the Member of Parliament for Pandan at the ‘Anwar: From Kajang to Putrajaya’ forum at the country’s capital recently.
Momentarily chocked, with reddish eyes and stuttering, Rafizi said that it is a painful decision, but it needs to be done for the sake of responsibility to the public.
“It hurts me because it was my idea to drag Anwar Ibrahim in this matter (choking back tears) and it is not an easy thing.
“But when this responsibility falls on ones shoulders (choking back tears), what else can you do?” he said.
Rafizi explained that the announcement to place Anwar to contest was done with the full consent of Pakatan Rakyat, although at the beginning, it shocked some senior government officers, the former Chief Minister of Kelantan, Datuk Seri Nik Aziz Nik Mat and the Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Guan Eng.
He explained, negotiations to support the move was made in secret and at the same time, PKR also “did not arrange” how the secret was to be communicated to each other and the respective party leaders.
“The beauty of this tactical move is that it is ‘shocking’, and yes, it surprised many because of the way the agreement was treated,” he said.
According to Rafizi, approval from PAS was obtained on 24 January, through its Secretary-General, Datuk Mustafa Ali, while approval from DAP was obtained on Monday, 27 January, before the announcement was made by Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim on 29 January.
