Rafizi said he had intended to show how PKR and its president Anwar Ibrahim were stuck between a rock and a hard place, given the only two possible outcomes of the race for the deputy presidency.

“If Nurul Izzah wins, people will say that it’s nepotism. If she loses, people will say Anwar has been rejected by his own party.

“You guys don’t understand cynical remarks,” he said to the audience at a party election campaign event in Mentakab, Pahang, last night.

“There are hidden meanings to it. What I mean by what I said is that we’ve reached a stage where, whatever the possibility, we will have a burden to bear. And whatever the outcome, the person with the heaviest burden to bear will be Anwar.”

Rafizi and Nurul Izzah are in a one-on-one contest for the PKR deputy presidency, which Rafizi won in the 2022 party elections. Nurul Izzah, who did not contest then, is currently an appointed party vice-president.

Rafizi advised younger PKR members hoping to contest future party elections to think long and hard before proceeding.

“Every action will have a consequence,” he said.

He also reiterated that he would step down as economy minister if he lost the party election.

“I can’t be a minister without holding any important position in the party. Otherwise, in the future, there will be squabbles over the matter,” he said.

He called for calm within the party, acknowledging that there had been a series of “personal attacks” against both sides over the past few days.

“Let’s not make things personal,” he said, adding that his rivals should not take remarks made in jest seriously.