He gave an example where following Pakatan Harapan’s massive losses over a few elections, there have been calls to have certain leaders to be brought in to recreate a winning streak similar to the election “tsunami” that swept PH to power in 2018.
“Some people in PH think that without Dr Mahathir Mohamad, we will not win. This shows they are so separated from reality on the ground and with the electorate.
“There are some in PH whose view is that politics is about creating a tsunami, where they say people would follow (a personality) just because one person is there. I disagree with this because people are not stupid.
“They (PH) do not realise that people are more concerned about wages and other sufferings,” he said at a talk hosted by Johor PKR chief Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, with Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar present.
Rafizi stepped out of active politics in December 2019 to concentrate on his startup business. He announced his return last week and said he would contest the PKR deputy presidency.
A former party strategist, Rafizi said his research showed that voters were more concerned about the economy and that no party had won from the votes of “hardcore” fans alone.
He said he disagrees with talk of PH seeking new partners. “You are then forced to merge and make concessions on policy, branding and later fight over who will be the leader.
“The easiest way is to return to the momentum that made us win in 2018, when we were close to the people, understood their hardship,” he said.
Rafizi said the current issue of concern was the prices of goods, such as high prices of chicken and egg — the country’s most consumed proteins — which could not be resolved by the present government.
He said he had no plans to form a new party and would stick to PKR, for he believed the party carried the ideals of diversity. “I am here to defend the multiracial politics that made the people cleverer, which I have been championing for the past 20 years.”
Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram