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ECONOMY Minister and PKR Deputy President Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli has expressed his readiness to step down from the Cabinet to concentrate fully on grassroots campaigning for the upcoming 16th General Election (GE16).
In a statement released on Wednesday, Rafizi said he has already conveyed his intention to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Harapan (PH) Secretary-General Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail. He also indicated he is prepared not to contest the PKR deputy presidency for the 2025–2028 term.
“During my recent leave, I held separate meetings with both Anwar and Saifuddin. In my discussions with the Prime Minister, I shared my view that our campaign strategy for GE16 needs refinement in light of current public sentiment,” said Rafizi.
“I told him I am willing to step aside from the deputy presidency and leave the Cabinet to focus entirely on grassroots campaigning.”
Rafizi expressed concern that the ruling coalition’s campaign style has become overly defensive compared to the more aggressive approach it adopted when in opposition.
“That aggressive tone was my strength as a politician, and it's time to realign with the campaign needs in the two years leading to GE16,” he said.
“Being a minister binds me to government consensus, which makes it difficult for me to speak as freely as before. This, in part, contributes to our party’s lack of firepower in campaigning.”
He said he voiced the same concerns to Saifuddin and reiterated his willingness to take a step back to return to a more dynamic campaigning role without Cabinet constraints.
“Both of them felt there’s a need for me to continue contesting for the deputy presidency and remain in the Cabinet. I told them I would consider their views carefully before making a final decision.”
Fixes to Digital Voting System Flaws
Separately, Rafizi has urged the PKR Central Election Committee (JPP) to address technical flaws in the party’s digital voting system before the upcoming May 24 party election.
He stressed the committee must guarantee the legitimacy and performance of the system to avoid post-election disputes.
“Among the key issues are verifying the number of OTPs issued compared to eKYC verifications and final votes recorded on the blockchain, to assess how many votes were lost due to system flaws,” he said.
He also called for the preservation of source code versions used on cloud servers and a full audit trail of any uploads to maintain system integrity.
Rafizi’s statement follows recent media reports claiming he had informed his supporters of his intent to resign during a post-leadership council meeting on April 23. However, party sources later denied he had vacated his office.
Sinar Harian today cited Chinese-language daily Sin Chew Daily reporting that Rafizi was dissatisfied with the perceived lack of transparency in the digital voting system and had proposed an audit by an international firm.
He confirmed that during his leave from April 29 to May 5, he held meetings and raised issues related to the party election with the Central Leadership Council (MPP).
“On April 29, the MPP agreed to conduct an independent audit to ensure the system is free from external interference that could affect branch-level results,” he said.
According to Rafizi, the audit findings were presented to the MPP on May 4. Based on the report, the council accepted the President’s recommendation to validate branch-level results despite outstanding complaints to move forward with the central election.
Candidates who lodged complaints were allowed to appoint technical observers during the audit, and Rafizi has published both the audit report and observers’ findings.
“Regardless of the conclusions drawn, I call on all party members to rally together and focus on strengthening the party,” he said. - May 7, 2025
