Rafizi and Nik Nazmi describe their political breakaway as a high-risk ‘kamikaze’ move, acknowledging possible electoral defeat and political retirement.
PETALING JAYA: The political breakaway led by Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli and Datuk Seri Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad has been described as a high-risk “kamikaze” move, with Rafizi acknowledging the possibility of electoral defeat, lost deposits and even political retirement as the price of attempting to reset Malaysia’s political landscape.
Rafizi said the decision to launch a new political platform was not driven by expectations of success, but by the belief that Malaysia’s political system required a generational and ideological reset.
“On that realisation, Nik (Nazmi), myself and others agreed to carry out a kamikaze mission,” he told the audience during the “Hala Tuju Politik Rafizi dan Nik Nazmi” event here.
He warned that the initiative could fail decisively at the ballot box.
“We know there is no guarantee we will succeed. We may lose our deposits in all seats and be ridiculed. We may retire from politics as failures,” he said.
However, he argued that the risk was justified, saying Malaysia needed a major intellectual and political leap to avoid stagnation.
Rafizi said each generation of reformers had been dismissed in their time, citing historical figures such as Za’ba and former Umno president Datuk Onn Jaafar, who advocated for multi-ethnic politics long before it became mainstream.
He said transformative ideas often appear unrealistic before eventually becoming national consensus.
“Every generation that tries to push society forward gets laughed at first,” he said.
Rafizi added that Malaysia’s political debate remained stuck in outdated frameworks despite rapid social change.
He pointed out that although the country is approaching the 70th anniversary of independence, political discourse remains trapped in narratives shaped decades earlier.
“Next year we will celebrate 70 years of independence, yet we are still arguing about the same things,” he said.
He argued that the initiative was therefore not about immediate electoral victory, but about introducing a new political option for younger generations, including Gen Z and beyond.
“The country needs a major leap in vision,” he said.
Rafizi said the movement was deliberately structured outside existing political parties, which he argued were constrained by internal compromises and entrenched perceptions.
He also said the team had anticipated regulatory and political barriers in forming a new party.
“We also know registering a new party may not be approved.
“So for the past year, we registered several decoy parties while at the same time engaging smaller existing parties that aligned with our ideas,” he said.
Rafizi credited Parti Bersama Malaysia’s founding leadership, led by Tan Gin Theam, for agreeing to accommodate their political direction.
He said the platform would be rooted in the idea that political power belongs to the people rather than political elites, and would promote a multi-ethnic, intergenerational political culture.
Bersama, he said, would field candidates across constituencies held by major coalitions including PKR, DAP, Amanah, Umno, Pas and Bersatu, depending on perceived need and opportunity.
