Rafizi had also among others revealed that there was a petition by a group in the party to have him removed as secretary-general back then, endless clashing in political bureau meetings, and his ongoing dispute with Azmin over various issues
KUALA LUMPUR: PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli has been slapped with a ‘stern warning’ and risks expulsion from the party if he continues to reveal its infighting, Chinese daily Sin Chew Daily reported yesterday.
Quoting a party source, the vernacular paper said Rafizi was issued with a verbal warning following his latest statement, which had tarnished the party name as disputes between camps, purportedly at odds over forming a political pact with Pas for the upcoming 14th general election (GE14).
The source said this was based on an advice by jailed PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to the party’s political bureau in meting out the disciplinary action.
“Based on Anwar’s advice, the party will only issue a verbal warning to Rafizi. If he continues to be stubborn (in exposing internal party matters), he could be expelled from the party.”
In a recent statement Rafizi, who is known to have opposed political pacts with Pas, named PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, vice-presidents Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, Tian Chua, Dr Xavier Jayakumar, and Dr Shaharuddin Badaruddin, as the ones involved in talks with the Islamic party.
Rafizi had also among others revealed that there was a petition by a group in the party to have him removed as secretary-general back then, endless clashing in political bureau meetings, and his ongoing dispute with Azmin over various issues.
The source also said the party would continue carrying out talks with Pas as instructed by Anwar to avoid three-cornered fights in GE14.
Although the Pakatan presidential council had decided that there would be no cooperation with Pas, it did not object to PKR having unofficial talks with the latter.
“PKR is not only facing challenges from Pas, but other east coast-based parties (in the peninsula) as well. We will continue to talk with Pas, Parti Sosialis Malaysia and other parties in the region to reach a ‘one-on-one’ formula (straight fights against Barisan Nasional).
“With that being said, PKR is only negotiating with Pas for a one-on-one formula. It is not about a political pact (Pas joining Pakatan Harapan), since we did not collectively draw out alliance manifesto or policies.”
On Azmin’s claim that he was appointed by the party to hold talks with Pas, the source said the task was assigned to the Selangor Menteri Besar by Anwar, who told the former to look into seat allocation.
PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail in a recent report claimed no such appointment had taken place.
“The appointment was supported by the majority of political bureau members. Those who are against the talks, such as Rafizi and Selayang MP William Leong (who had quit the bureau) are not from Azmin’s camp.
“And Rafizi, who is a member of the bureau, has not attended meetings for a year now.”
Source: NST Online
