The two-term MP said he did not want to be a part of the political culture reflected during PKR’s elections in May, when he lost the party’s deputy presidency to Nurul Izzah Anwar.
Rafizi also expressed pessimism as to the party’s ability to get rid of that culture, though he did not specify what he meant by “that culture”.
When asked about his next move should he be dropped as PKR’s candidate in Pandan, he replied: “I didn’t even say that I will even contest in the next (general) election. I don’t have any intention to participate (yet) … I actually haven’t made a decision whether to contest in the next general election or not,” he said on his Yang Berhenti Menteri podcast.
Nonetheless, Rafizi said he could not leave the party yet as the people of Pandan had given him the mandate to be their MP.
Time to move on
“It’s like love, there are good times and not so good times. But when we’ve reached a stage where you feel you’ve changed, I feel I’ve changed, and we’re no longer compatible, it would be better for both of us to move on.
“But that doesn’t mean forgetting all the good things that happened in the past 27 years. The party is not owned by those who won recently. It involves everyone, those who have been involved since 1998.
“If I can change (the culture), great. But I don’t think I can. So if we’ve reached that stage, we should both move on,” said Rafizi.
He said the prospect of not contesting in the general election made him excited, as his break from politics from December 2019 to March 2022 had allowed him to gain a lot of knowledge.
The former economy minister said he has many other things he wanted to learn in the meantime.
On the right to dissent
Rafizi played down the notion that he was a potential prime minister, saying Malaysians needed to push for a change in the nation’s political culture when it comes to supporting parties, instead of merely having good candidates for the top post.
He said supporting a political party should not mean being unable to question or challenge certain decisions or policies made by the party.
“Only when people are critical will we see many good prime minister candidates. The culture now is that you must brown-nose here and there.
“That’s why, for me, that question (of being a potential prime minister) is not on my horizon. I don’t intend to change my character. If I’m required to change just because of politics … no thanks.”