Khairy, who uploaded on Instagram a picture of him greeting Rafizi six years ago, said he would always give him the “rival’s respect”, praising the former Pandan MP’s courage to take on what he called as the “infamous cartel” in PKR.

“I don’t know what the final results of the PKR elections will look like. But I want to congratulate Raf for taking on the infamous cartel, which apparently promotes old school patronage and mediocre minds, and giving them a bloody nose. We both tried to shake up our parties,” Khairy wrote, referring to a derogatory phrase used by Rafizi’s supporters on the faction led by Mohamed Azmin Ali.

Rafizi and Azmin are both locked in an intense battle for the deputy president’s post. Yesterday, it was apparent that Rafizi would not be able to dislodge Azmin from the seat, amid allegations of tampering in PKR’s e-voting devices.

Saying they were both now “out of the mainstream”, Khairy praised Rafizi for his commitment to PKR president-elect Anwar Ibrahim and the reformasi movement.

He then compared Rafizi’s work to his own efforts in “rebuilding Umno”, adding that they “could have dreamt of a new party for Malaysia”.

“Maybe in another lifetime,” said Khairy.