PM’s brother launches new political party

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New progressive, multiracial party.

A new political party – Parti Kuasa Rakyat – is sparking political conspiracy theories because it will be led by the Prime Minister’s older brother, Kamarazaman Yaakob.

On whether it was a coincidence that he was launching a party after Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, 61, was elected to the top post on Aug 21 this year, Kamarazaman, 72, explained that it was difficult to be the Prime Minister’s brother.

“Take the example of our brother Datuk Zamri Yaakob. He has been in the world of agriculture most of his life, and he won Nafas (National Farmers’ Organisation) chairman post on his own accord. Just because he is the older brother of the PM, some think the Prime Minister orchestrated it,” he said.

“I am the second victim in the family. Some say that the PM was orchestrating Kuasa Rakyat,” he said.

“This party has been planned for a long time with progressive friends from different segments of society. It was supposed to be launched on Oct 10, 2020, but there were several things we could not solve,” he said.

Kamarazaman said Ismail Sabri would not interfere in his political activities as his younger brother knew his character and thinking.

“In terms of power, he is the Prime Minister. But in our family hierarchy, he is my younger brother, and we respect each other.”

On the conspiracy theory that his party was named Parti Kuasa Rakyat so that it could use the PKR acronym to split PKR led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Kamarazaman clarified that his party would be known as Kuasa Rakyat.

“We will not use the PKR acronym as we don’t want to confuse the voters. Also, why must I use the acronym as our struggle differs from PKR’s,” he said.

“We will lose out if we use it. PKR is about reformasi (reform movement), which is not clear whereas my party is about nasionalisme (nationalism) and marhaenism (struggling for the poor).”

He added that Kuasa Rakyat would be friendly to the Ismail Sabri government, and if the party gets stronger, it might be close to Barisan Nasional.

The new party is likely to contest against the Opposition in multiracial seats in the GE15. – The Star