Rafizi Claims He Faced Pressure for a Year Before Leaving PKR
PETALING JAYA: Former deputy president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Rafizi Ramli, has claimed that he and former party vice-president Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad were subjected to continuous pressure from the party machinery before eventually deciding to leave PKR.
According to Rafizi, the pressure campaign lasted for about a year and involved various forms of attacks, including those directed at his family members.
“For an entire year, the party machinery was used to pressure me and Nik to leave. Every day there were insults and continuous pressure,” he said in a Facebook post today.
The former economy minister claimed the situation escalated further when his child also became a target of political attacks.
He described the incident as unprecedented in Malaysian politics, saying differences in political views should never extend to involving family members and children.
Rafizi also alleged that PKR president Anwar Ibrahim chose not to expel them from the party because such a move could revive perceptions linked to “backdoor” political manoeuvres.
According to him, certain individuals within the party were instead allegedly allowed to continue applying pressure against him and Nik Nazmi.
“When we finally left the party, suddenly we were labelled traitors,” he said.
In the same statement, Rafizi also mentioned Sangeetha Jayakumar, whom he described as among those most vocal in accusing them of betrayal after their departure from PKR.
However, he insisted that such accusations were baseless and said the public could now piece together the reasons behind their decision to leave the party.
According to Rafizi, the treatment he and Nik Nazmi received while still in PKR ultimately helped the public better understand the circumstances surrounding their exit.
“Everything that happened during that period completed the puzzle for the rakyat to understand why we made the decision that we did,” he said.
He also stressed that his actions were never about attacking Anwar Ibrahim personally, but rather about the struggle involving ordinary people he had worked with throughout more than two decades in politics.
The statement comes amid continued speculation over internal tensions within PKR following several recent developments involving the party’s leadership.
