MU is like PKR before it became the ruling government – a clean white paper.
Some call him a sore loser. Some mock his past performance as the former economic minister. Some ridicule his new party – Parti Bersama Malaysia or Malaysian United Party (MU) – as a mosquito party without roots and machinery. Some question how he plans to fund MU in the upcoming 16th General Election. Some doubt his ability to fight other well-established giants like BN, PH and PN.
Some predict the disgruntled former deputy PKR president and his new party will disappear soon. Some scold his evil attempt to split the Chinese and Malay votes in Pakatan Harapan (PH). Some challenged him to contest in rural Malay areas against Perikatan Nasional (PN). Some argue he’s committing “kamikaze” by going against both Barisan Nasional (BN) and PH in urban areas.
Heck, some even laugh at his new party’s logo – “kancil” or mousedeer – and joke about how MU would get trampled and crushed when elephants (BN, PN or PH) fight. But that’s precisely what the new boss of MU – Rafizi Ramli – wanted to project. Not only does he – cleverly and purposely – market his new party as MU (a widely used abbreviation for Manchester United), but he’s also positioning MU as the underdog in the “David vs Goliath” story.
Rafizi pre-emptively and psychologically said his political venture is a kamikaze move that could end up losing everything, including his deposit, if MU is annihilated in the next national polls. That is a powerful strategy and tactic to fish votes from frustrated supporters of PH, BN and PN, fence-sitters, and young voters currently not aligned to any political parties or pacts. Dude, he’s cornering the market.
The fact that PH held a rally in Johor Bahru on Sunday (May 17) to coincide with the launching of Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama or MU) under the pretext of building momentum for the coming state election has raised suspicions that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was trying to undermine his former protégé Rafizi more than targeting BN, who had earlier declared war on PH by going solo in Johor.
And the fact that PKR secretary-general Fuziah Salleh, arguably the dumbest leader in Anwar’s party, has prematurely jumped the gun with a silly claim that she has so-called “evidence” to prove Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad joined MU before vacating seats, hence is bound by the RM10 million anti-hopping party bond, indicates the panic and chaos within the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).
Get real, Rafizi’s political career began with his involvement in the “Reformasi” movement in 1998, the same year Anwar was sacked by then-PM Mahathir Mohamad over corruption and sodomy charges. With 28 years’ experience under his belt, do you really think a meticulous Rafizi would be so stupid as to commit such a mistake? The registration date of a vehicle is different from a car’s ownership date, mind you.
It’s not hard to understand why serious attention was at PJ PAC, 1 Utama, where Rafizi unveiled the “Third Force”. While PKR president Anwar and other PH leaders gathered at their national convention recycling and trumpeting the same tired rhetoric that few Malaysians seem to believe anymore, Rafizi was igniting the flame of “hope” across the political landscape.
Unlike fake progressive Khairy Jamaluddin, who temporarily hid as a presenter on Hot FM and co-hosted the political podcast “Keluar Sekejap” after he was sacked from UMNO in January 2023 for disparaging and sabotaging the party during the 15th General Election campaign, before he rejoined UMNO last month and shamelessly kissed the same hand that he had condemned, Rafizi has more dignity and a bigger appetite for risk.
By taking over Bersama or MU, quitting PKR, and resigning as Members of Parliament, Rafizi and Nik have easily achieved what big talker (former) opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin failed to achieve, and have done what Khairy was too cowardly to do. Rafizi boldly set up his own restaurant over disagreements with his former boss Anwar’s practice of serving substandard, unhygienic and unsafe food at cutthroat prices.
The political launch on Sunday was a huge success, attracting more than 2,000 attendees and garnering over 10,000 views via online livestream. Those numbers alone are enough to send shivers down PKR’s spine. Within just 24 hours of its launch, Rafizi Ramli’s new political platform, Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama), successfully attracted around 8,000 registered members.
Crucially, the new party did not spend a single penny on free meals, allowances or transportation for those supporters to attend the event. On the contrary, it had to set up stalls selling T-shirts, bags, badges and other merchandise, not to mention a crowdfunding channel on its Bersama Official Website to accept public donations. If this sounds familiar, that’s because PKR had gone through the same journey.
Yes, Bersama is like PKR before the People’s Justice Party became the ruling government – a clean white paper. Arguably, having spent 28 years in PKR, Rafizi knew what he wanted – a “clean version” snapshot of PKR before Anwar’s release from prison and systematically corrupted the party with cronyism, nepotism, money politics, corporate mafia, corruption, dictatorship, hypocrisy, racism, extremism, dynastic politics, and whatnot.
Because power-crazy Anwar has deviated from the real “Reformasi” movement, his former lieutenant is now providing an alternative to disgruntled supporters who felt scammed by the conman. Therefore, Rafizi’s immediate target is his former party, PKR, followed by DAP (Democratic Action Party). Throughout his speech on Sunday, he deliberately mentioned these two major PH parties for a reason.
As the key PKR strategist credited with masterminding the party’s unexpected rebound in the 2022 General Election, he understood that with limited time and resources, the fastest way to capture votes is to convert angry fence-sitters who had previously voted for PKR and DAP. It would be a waste of time to convert the converted supporters of BN (UMNO, MCA, MIC) and PN (Bersatu, PAS, Gerakan).
With 28 years’ experience in PKR, Rafizi knew the party like the back of his hand. He knew its strengths and weaknesses. He could leverage his analytics firm, Invoke Malaysia, to track voter sentiments, identify battleground seats, and mobilise fence-sitters in urban and semi-urban areas – a weapon which PKR belittles as arrogant Anwar believes more on government resources.
Besides a data-driven approach to understanding the pulse on the ground, Rafizi is also known for his effective and lethal grassroots campaigning, such as the 2022 “Ayuh Malaysia” to attract fence-sitting voters and boost voter turnout for Pakatan Harapan. He will most likely replicate the same tactic in engaging grassroots communities directly rather than relying heavily on mega-rallies, which require deep pockets.
To differentiate MU from PKR, UMNO, PAS, Bersatu, and other dinosaur political parties, where their expired leaders are more than 70 years old, Rafizi sells Parti Bersama Malaysia as a party with a priority to nurture young candidates, especially leaders in their 30s, and provide them opportunities to contest in the coming elections.
“It is time for people like us in the 40s and 50s to step into the background and train the younger generation. That is the core direction of Parti Bersama Malaysia,” said Rafizi Ramli, a deliberate statement specially designed to attack not only PKR, but also DAP. Although DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke is relatively young at 49, he is increasingly criticised for his cowardice and subservience to both PKR and UMNO.
With the announcement that Bersama would contest future elections as an independent political force, the current three-corner rivalry among PH, BN, and PN would get more crowded, interesting, and messier with the new kids on the block. But among dozens of political parties, MU would be a severe “threat” due to several factors.
While PKR and DAP could claim to be multiracial parties, MU is not only multiracial, but also led by a young leader with agendas for the youngsters. It’s not hard to see how first-time voters aged 18 and Generation Z may cast their ballots for Bersama due to their preference for a brand-new political option. After all, BN, PN and PH have so far proven to be untrustworthy, unreliable and a mega failure.
In the same breath, even DAP is in trouble as the popular mantra spewed by pro-Anwar propagandists, bloggers, cyber troopers, YouTubers, and TikTokers – “If not Anwar, who else” – is no longer workable. The scare tactic – “If Chinese and Indians don’t vote for PH, the alternatives (PN or BN) are worse” – is now neutralised with the emergence of MU or Bersama.
Non-Malays, especially ethnic Chinese, frustrated and disillusioned with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration, were increasingly likely to simply abstain from voting by staying at home. But with Rafizi’s offering of a third force, they now have a third option to vote, just like how Sabahan Chinese voted in droves in favour of Warisan last year, effectively wiping out PKR and DAP in the Borneo state.
Realistically, MU cannot and does not need to win the minimum of 112 parliamentary seats to form a simple majority government on its own. It just needs to steal PKR’s seats whilst challenging DAP’s seats. While Rafizi does not want MU to become a second PKR, he can definitely try to replace the outdated and tainted PKR with MU as the next powerhouse.
More importantly, also present at the MU launching event were six other renegade PKR MPs – Wong Chen, Lee Chean Chung, Rodziah Ismail, S Kesavan, Zahir Hassan and Baktiar Wan Chik. In a sign of weakness, PKR is indecisive about whether to terminate membership of the six rebels, and DAP chief Loke said Rafizi should have kept his PKR membership at least until the end of his term as an MP.
If the Premier and PKR believe Rafizi’s new party is a joke, the only way to test the strength of MU is to call for by-elections in Pandan and Setiawangsa. The burning question is whether the big talker Anwar has the balls to do so. If Tengku Zafrul, Anwar’s favourite errand boy identified to replace Rafizi in Pandan, fails to snatch the seat, the humiliation and chain reaction would be irreparable.
There’s another huge difference between Anwar and Rafizi. Whilst PM Anwar’s blood is incredibly contaminated with UMNO DNA, Rafizi is yet to be tainted. Like it or not, that’s an excellent value proposition. Whether the MU new chief would similarly get corrupted upon gaining power later remains to be seen. For now, laugh at Rafizi and his new party at your own peril. – Finance Twitter