KUALA LUMPUR - Outspoken PKR's Rafizi Ramli says the party has spent too much time "thinking about going into power" last two years, causing them to lose touch with the needs of the voters.
"We have forgotten how to articulate what really matters to the people on a day-to-day basis.
"PKR voters want their bread and butter issues to be solved. This gap has created some sense of disillusionment,” he told Sinar Daily.
The former Pandan MP said the aftereffects of the 2020 Sheraton Move, which saw the ousting of the elected Pakatan Harapan (PH) government and the resignation of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, just after 22 months in power were the main highlight of the disillusionment and now the focus should be on getting back the people’s mandate.
In doing so, he said, PKR and the PH coalition need to realign their strategies, and failing to do so will see voter turnout being lower in GE15.
"The percentage of the voters are pretty much the same during the Johor state elections from 2018 to this year but because we still did not engage with fence-sitters, we suffered,” Rafizi said.
Asked if PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was still relevant to the party, Rafizi said it is given that there is no other person within the party that could get everyone to work together.
"If you were to find someone else, it would be like opening the Pandora’s box and destabilise the party.
"As long as he is able to unite (the party) and all opposition parties and command the respect of the voters, that is a good starting point,” he said.
Rafizi added a politician is judged by their ability to get everyone to agree with them, which is not the way he is used to doing things.
"I am quite difficult to work with because I don’t think I behave like a politician. I am extremely particular about productivity, delivery, and making sure everything I do makes an impact,” he added.
Rafizi had recently announced his return to politics and will contest for the post of party deputy president during the party elections in May. His supporters from PKR and PH have been urging him to return to politics after his retirement from politics in 2019.
However, he had said he was not sure if he could help with the current political scenario as his opinions were deemed as minority views among the leaders in PKR and PH.