As we all probably know by now, Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad have left PKR and taken over Parti Bersama Malaysia.
Yesterday afternoon, in front of more than 2,000 supporters, the founder and president of Parti Bersama Malaysia, Tan Gin Theam, officially transferred the party’s registration certificate to Rafizi and Nik Nazmi at the PJ Performing Arts Centre.
But the transfer of the party’s registration certificate to Rafizi is merely a symbolic move.
It does not officially signify that Rafizi has become the president and leader of Parti Bersama Malaysia — at least not yet.
To become party president, Rafizi will still have to go through the process laid out in the party’s constitution.
What exactly is the process required under Parti Bersama Malaysia’s constitution for someone to become party president?
Well, I do not know the specific provisions in the party constitution, but as a general rule, internal party elections usually have to be held for such a transition to formally take place.
Although Tan Gin Theam, as the party’s founder and president, is obviously willing to relinquish his position to Rafizi, it is not really up to him alone to hand over the presidency.
A party president, afterall, is not a king — he cannot simply name his successor.
If the president steps down, then, as a general rule, the party’s top decision-making body — whether it is called the supreme council, central executive committee, or something similar — is usually responsible for selecting an interim replacement.
Typically, that body would choose the deputy president or one of the vice-presidents to serve as acting president until internal party elections are held to elect a new permanent president.
If anyone is interested in preventing Rafizi from properly consolidating control of Parti Bersama Malaysia before the next general election — which all signs increasingly suggest may happen sooner rather than later — then all they really have to do is delay the party election needed to formally install a new president.
To delay such an election, all that may be required is for the majority of committee members within the party’s top decision-making body — which usually consists of perhaps a dozen or two individuals — to vote against holding immediate internal elections.
If they choose to do so, then the acting president could potentially serve out the remainder of the previous president’s term before party elections are finally called.
If that happens, Rafizi could end up leading Parti Bersama Malaysia into the next general election without officially being its president.
I do not have to explain to you how risky such an arrangement could be.
Leading a party into election when you are not its official leader is a bit like lending a large amount of money to someone without anything set in black and white — an enormous amount of trust is required, and the possibility of betrayal is always real.
My gut instinct is that Rafizi’s formal appointment as president of Parti Bersama Malaysia is something we should watch very closely.
It is a potential fault line that his political opponents could exploit in order to frustrate or delay his electoral plans.
In any case, I think we should know within the next few days or weeks when and how Rafizi will officially become the next president of Parti Bersama Malaysia.
Let us see how the cookies crumble.
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