Rafizi dubs Azmin a 'misfit', admits Kajang Move's failure

KUALA LUMPUR - PKR vice president Rafizi Ramli says he has no problems with Senior Minister (International Trade and Industry) Datuk Seri Azmin Ali but sees him as a "misfit" within the party even back then.

“First and foremost, people should be transparent about their motives and what they stand for.

“The way he preaches and behaves, its like he is almost like an Umno man,” he said told Sinar Daily.

He further described Azmin as an “ambitious” man as he was said to be one of the men behind the Sheraton Move in 2020 that saw the collapse of the elected Pakatan Harapan (PH) government. Azmin and 10 other PKR MPs jumped ship to Bersatu to form a government with PAS, Bersatu and Barisan Nasional (BN).

“Although I don’t have a problem with him personally, it is good that the public actually sees what he stands for now,” he added.

Asked whether he thought 2014 Kajang Move was a success, Rafizi confessed that the immediate objective was to make PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim Selangor’s Menteri Besar (MB) but the plans failed.

"It failed to take off," he said.

However, Rafizi said that the mid to long-term plan was a success, which was to take PAS out of the PH coalition.

“Kajang Move finally showed the public what PAS was all about,” he said.

Also known as the Selangor MB crisis, the nine-month political strife concluded with Azmin's appointment as the 15th Selangor MB.

On Jan 27, 2014, PKR assemblyman Lee Chin Cheh resigned as Kajang State Assemblyman to give way for Anwar, who was then party de-facto leader, to contest the by-election.

However, Anwar's plans were thwarted after the court found him guilty of sodomy charges once more forcing him to give way to his wife and then PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to contest instead.

Wan Azizah's win led to a battle for the MB post despite already being helmed by the party's own member, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

Khalid was the MB for six years from March 13, 2008, and was sacked on Sept 22, 2014, replaced by Azmin.