Nurul Izzah was quoted to have said she is contesting for the post of Deputy President for PKR to show everyone, especially component parties in Pakatan and Madani government that she can strengthen PKR the party, at the federal level while building solidarity and maintaining unity.
She also said regardless of the results on 23 May 2025, she will continue to go down to the ground to meet the people and PKR’s supporters to uplift their spirits and hold programmes that empower women and youths and engage in discussions to understand what the voters need in their respective constituencies as part of the party’s efforts to rebuild voter trust.
Wow, such big and lofty statement.
In the 6 General elections that PKR participated since its formation as a political party, the best it ever did, based on the total number of seats that it competed and won in a general election was in the 14th GE in 2018, winning 48 of the 71 seats it contested.
During this period, Nurul Izzah was the Vice President, elected by the members in PKR from 2010 until 17 December 2018, where she resigned abruptly.
In a statement issued on 17 Dec 2018 announcing her resignation as the PKR vice-president, she quipped that even though 9 May 2018 saw the enlargement of the democratic space for reforms but the promised reform agenda by Pakatan Harapan remained to be seen.
As such, she said, it remained crucial for all stakeholders to continue to press for the fulfilment of the reforms, as well as the continuation of policies and programmes of the previous government, if proven to be beneficial for the public.
Even though she resigned in 2018 as the Vice President, she remained a member of the party and also as elected Member of Parliament in Permatang Pauh.
During the 4 years from Dec 2018 to July 2023 and also the preceding years then, where was she and what was she doing for the party?
Was she actively engaging in discussions with the voters to understand what the voters need in their respective constituencies?
Did she helped the party to rebuild voter trust during those 4 years where she was out of the central leadership of the party?
Those 4 years and the mode and manner in how she resigned abruptly as an elected Vice President, betraying the trust of those who voted for her earlier, reflects the kind of leadership that Nurul embodies, making decisions that don’t take into concerns of those party members who voted for her earlier.
Zero accountability from her.
As expected, PKR failed to sustain the momentum in the 15th GE in 2022 where out of 100 seats it contested, it managed to win 31 seats only.
As the elected Vice President then and the period where she was still an active member and a member of parliament for permatang pauh, did she led efforts to maintain, sustained and increased voters trust in the party immediately following that euphoric night on 9 May 2018 and continue with active efforts to engage in discussions with the voters to understand what the voters need in their respective constituencies so that the party improve in their performance in the 15th GE.
Her return to the central leadership via an appointment by the President of the party on 20 July 2023, along with 2 others nearly 4 years after abrupt resignation on 17 December 2018 was equally just as abrupt as the mode in her leaving her elected post as Vice President of the party.
Those who pushed and supported her bid for Deputy President might not be concerned but the concerns of the general public who voted for PKR that she will, again in the future, once elected as Deputy President, resigned in a similar abrupt fashion is real.
What she promised presently in her bid to be elected sounds familiar.
The people heard that tune decades ago from the President of the party and now her daughter.
Are her reforms include plans for the voters to vote for the return of Permatang Pauh to PKR?
She said what the party is doing now is similar to what is being done in Mexico, the only country where she felt has truly implemented reforms.
What she failed to mention was that similar to Mexico, a dominant political coalition, BN governed the country for over 6 decades, similarly crafted a deeply centralized system of power built on patronage, clientelism and institutional control.
BN’s extensive networks built through the few decades ensured electoral dominance through a combination of co-option, favor exchanges and financial inducements.
This long period of `single-party ie the BN coalition’ rule not only suppressed political competition, but also entrenched corruption and administrative inertia, leaving behind a political culture resistant to genuine democratic change.
These practices remained embedded within the system, shaping how power was exercised across all levels of government.
And its legacy continues to influence governance in Malaysia today.
For decades, BN perfected the art of neutralizing opposition — not through democratic debate, but through strategic rewards and punishments.
The rise of new political actors has done little to dismantle these practices, as many of BN’s defining characteristics — nepotism, corruption and political clientelism — persist under different banners.
Thus, in reality Mexico’s transition to democracy has remained largely superficial with political alternation failing to translate into institutional reform.
Malaysia is no different.
Please don't insult the intelligence of PKR members voters and rakyat.
PKR was all about reforms.
If reforms are needed to reform a reformist party, then the party is on the road to perdition.
FLK is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact creator@newswav.com.
