Category Archives: Rafizi Ramli

Happy Chinese new year

We are the sum of the people around us. Every time we read stories of simple kindness happening around us, there is an immediate feeling of warmth. When we offer unconditional kindness to the next person, we help ourselves as much as we help him.

I don’t meet as many people nowadays, but the very few I meet lately have one similar concern: where are we going? Are things going to go downhill from this point onward?

Most of the time, I surprised them with my optimistic view of the future. But then again, I had always been optimistic (even when many thought a democratic change of government was impossible). My undying optimism stems from the kindness and potentials I observe every day around me in our society.

Despite whatever we say about us, on average Malaysians are smarter, more hardworking, more knowledgeable and more sophisticated than our peers from other countries in the region. If the world is a talent pool, Malaysians are the unpolished gems with huge potentials. It takes the right mindset to harness the talents and unleashes the potentials, but they are talented to begin with.

Of course, there are detractors among us. One bad apple does not mean the whole cart is bad. They leave a bad aftertaste, yet we can always pick and enjoy the good apples.

What has this got anything to do with Chinese New Year?

When you meet your friends and family during this Chinese New Year, please don’t spend time worrying about how bad things are.

It is bad, but it will not stay bad forever. If we have faith in the collective good and potentials of our people, we know there will always be a turnaround somewhere, sometime in the future.

That’s the choice I made. I chose to believe that we are a sum of each other. Each of us, each group, each component of what makes us a society, has our role, talent and contribution. We get here together, and somehow, we will cross any bridge together too.

We shall go back to our respective station in life and do the best within our sphere of influence so that more people can see kindness and potentials around them. That’s how we will beat whatever toxicity we feel taking shape around us.

I chose to focus on the one thing that I feel can make a significant difference – how to solve the pain points in the job market. How to match more job seekers and employers? How to tell job seekers that they need to improve some skills to be more marketable? How to help employers advertise more vacancies cheaply?

It is a far cry from the life of a national politician that I was. But I am perfectly contented and happy with what I am doing, because I know I will make a difference. If I can make the job marketplace more liquid, more youngsters will get a chance for full employment, and we will unleash more hidden potentials in the market.

So, make a difference this Chinese New Year – focus on everything good about us, ignore those detractors. No matter how far we progress in the future, they will always exist. The best we can do is to confine them to the fringe.

Let’s celebrate everything that makes us Malaysians and work on our strengths to beat the odds. Focus on our ability to learn from each other, what each of us brings to the table, on our resilience and tolerance.

Happy Chinese New Year from all of us at www.adnexio.jobs

May the kindness we offer to each other brings us together.

Catatan: Seksyen 294 dan Bebas Penjara

Minggu lalu, Mahkamah Rayuan membuat keputusan untuk membatalkan hukuman penjara satu tahun setengah dan sebaliknya menggunakan peruntukan di bawah Seksyen 294, Kanun Tatacara Jenayah dalam kes Akta Rahsia Rasmi (OSA) berhubung Laporan Ketua Audit Negara.

Hukuman penjara satu tahun setengah itu digantikan dengan bon berkelakuan baik selama 2 tahun dan bon RM10,000.

Saya perhatikan ada banyak kekeliruan yang berlaku. Saya membaca dan menghadam pelbagai reaksi orang ramai (terutamanya di media sosial) untuk saya cuba memahami perspektif orang ramai mengenai perkara ini.

Kekeliruan yang paling utama datangnya dari orang ramai yang terkeliru dengan konsep reformasi walaupun mereka menyokong kuat Pakatan Harapan. Ada yang berterima kasih kepada kerajaan Pakatan Harapan kerana membebaskan saya. Ada juga yang meletakkan keputusan membatalkan hukuman penjara itu sebagai jasa itu dan ini.

Mereka nampaknya tidak sedar anggapan bahawa Kerajaan Persekutuan boleh mempengaruhi keputusan hakim itu sangat-sangat bertentangan dengan reformasi yang ingin kita bawa melalui kerajaan baru ini. Sejak saya berumur 20 tahun (malah lebih awal dari itu), saya mahukan satu badan kehakiman yang benar-benar bebas tanpa takut atau boleh dipengaruhi sesiapa. Beban amanah kepada hakim-hakim ini adalah untuk memastikan keadilan berlaku, dengan mengambil kira segala pertimbangan untuk berlaku adil.

Sebab itu saya tidak mahu membuat apa-apa permohonan yang melibatkan kuasa eksekutif yang boleh dilihat (atau disalah tafsir) ada keistimewaan diberikan kepada saya, hanya kerana saya seorang pemimpin Pakatan Harapan. Saya bertegas bahawa saya akan terus ke kandang tertuduh dan biarlah peguam-peguam saya berhujah di hadapan yang arif-yang arif hakim, dengan doa supaya hakim-hakim sekarang tidak lagi perlu rasa bimbang untuk membuat keputusan yang seadil mungkin.

Oleh itu, saya ingin perbetulkan sedikit kekeliruan di luar yang mungkin merasakan keputusan itu ada campur tangan mana-mana pihak. Proses mahkamah pada hari Jumaat lalu berjalan seperti biasa tanpa ada sebarang permohonan dari saya atau campur tangan mana-mana pihak.

Kenapa Seksyen 294?

Maka ia terletak sepenuhnya kepada pertimbangan hakim-hakim berdasarkan hujah-hujah yang dikemukakan peguam-peguam saya.

Sebelum perbicaraan, peguam-peguam saya Saudara Saiful Izham Ramli dan Saudara Ahmad Nizam Abdul Hamid telah berbincang dengan saya strategi di mahkamah. Akhirnya saya bersetuju dengan cadangan mereka, bahawa saya tidak akan merayu berhubung keputusan Mahkamah Tinggi menjatuhkan hukuman bersalah kepada saya, sebaliknya hanya akan merayu hukuman penjara satu tahun setengah.

Strategi ini sangat berisiko kerana nasib saya terletak kepada belas ihsan dan budi bicara tiga orang hakim Mahkamah Rayuan semata-mata – iaitu Datuk Ahmadi Asnawi, Datuk Kamardin Hashim dan Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil.

Jika mereka menerima hujahan peguam saya di bawah Seksyen 294 Kanun Tatacara Jenayah, saya boleh bebas dari penjara. Jika tidak, hukuman mandatori minimum adalah satu tahun penjara.

Jadi kenapa saya mengambil risiko menggunakan hujah di bawah Seksyen 294 Kanun Tatacara Jenayah ini? Apa sebenarnya Seksyen 294 ini?

Apabila saya berhadapan dengan sesuatu keadaan, saya ada pilihan – sama ada menyelamatkan diri atau menggunakan keadaan saya itu untuk membawa kebaikan yang lebih besar kepada masyarakat.

Oleh itu, sebarang penghakiman dan keputusan dalam kes-kes yang melibatkan saya akan menjadi satu duluan (precedent) undang-undang; yang boleh menjadi rujukan kepada kes-kes seumpamanya di masa hadapan.

Ramai yang tidak tahu kewujudan satu kuasa pertimbangan yang besar yang diberikan kepada hakim-hakim di bawah Seksyen 294 Kanun Tatacara Jenayah. Ia memberikan kuasa kepada hakim-hakim menggunakan budi bicara dan belas ihsan, dengan mengambil kira segala pertimbangan fakta kes untuk meringankan hukuman kepada pesalah-pesalah.

Dalam kes saya, contoh-contoh pertimbangan seperti saya tidak mendapat apa-apa keuntungan, bahawa tindakan saya itu membantu ribuan pesara tentera mendapat pencen, bahawa maklumat di dalam laporan Ketua Audit Negara itu bukannya maklumat keselamatan negara dan lain-lain (seperti yang dihujahkan oleh peguam-peguam saya).

Saya berterima kasih kepada Timbalan Pendakwaraya, Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud yang tidak membantah permohonan peguam-peguam saya agar hakim-hakim menggunakan budi bicara seperti diperuntukkan di dalam Seksyen 294 Kanun Tatacara Jenayah itu.

Hasilnya, hakim-hakim mengenepikan hukuman penjara dan meletakkan bon berkelakuan baik; yang bermakna saya tidak ada rekod jenayah dan saya boleh kembali ke arena politik (jika satu lagi kes saya dalam pertuduhan BAFIA berjaya diketepikan).

Keputusan yang dibuat oleh hakim-hakim Yang Arif Datuk Ahmadi Asnawi, Datuk Kamardin Hashim dan Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil itu mewujudkan satu duluan (precedent) undang-undang yang cukup penting.

Selepas ini, hakim-hakim perlu mempertimbangkan faktor kepentingan awam dalam menjatuhkan sesuatu hukuman dalam kes-kes yang melibatkan “whistleblowers” atau pemberi maklumat, atau kes-kes berkepentingan awam yang seumpamanya.

Saya berharap orang ramai sedar bahawa mereka dilindungi oleh undang-undang apabila mereka tampil memberi maklumat, atau mendedahkan, atau memperjuangkan sesuatu yang ada kepentingan umum (dan bukan untuk kepentingan peribadi). Ini banyak membantu untuk kita memerdekakan rakyat dari ketakutan, sifat mementingkan diri dan sifat sembang-kencang-tapi-malas-ambil-tindakan di kalangan segelintir rakyat kita.

Saya juga berharap kaedah Seksyen 294 ini akan lebih diguna pakai dalam kes-kes jenayah kecil: contohnya ibu miskin yang mencuri susu, anak yatim yang mencuri makanan dan lain-lain. Kita tidak lagi mahu mendengar berita seorang yang mencuri ayam dihukum penjara setahun, atau ibu miskin dipisahkan dari bayinya kerana mencuri susu.

Sistem kehakiman di negara kita perlu lebih bersandarkan belas ihsan (“compassion”) supaya pesalah seperti ini diberikan bon berkelakuan baik atau khidmat masyarakat mengikut peruntukan Seksyen 294, bukannya dihantar ke penjara kerana mencuri susu akibat kemiskinan.

Rafizi Ramli
7 Jun 2018

Happy Deepavali, Deepavali Vaalthukal

Selamat menyambut perayaan Deepavali kepada mereka yang merayakan. Minta maaf lambat post, #Creative INVOKE Malaysia bercuti dan saya tidak sampai hati mengacau mereka di hari cuti.

Jadi saya kena buat design sendiri ?

Saya ada ramai kenalan berbangsa India sejak kecil lagi.
Hubungan paling erat ialah dengan tukang gunting rambut sejak saya di Tingkatan 1 di Kolej Melayu Kuala Kangsar. Tukang gunting rambut ada beberapa kedai saja. Banyaknya ialah dari kalangan pakcik-pakcik India.

Perkara biasa kalau di hujung minggu, kedai pakcik tukang gunting rambut ni penuh dengan kami budak-budak sekolah.
Di zaman 90an pun, masih ramai kakitangan kerajaan yang bekerja di dewan makan dari kalangan pakcik-pakcik India. Saya besar di Kolej Melayu dulu dengan Uncle David (yang dah nak bersara semasa saya di Tingkatan 1), juga dengan Ashok yang suka ambil gambar kegiatan kami dan tolong cuci gambar (50 sen sekeping).

Saya juga tidak lupa kemuliaan Uncle Salam yang kutip makanan untuk diberikan kepada kucing-kucing di seluruh MCKK setiap hari.

Cikgu-cikgu pun ramai yang dari kalangan kaum India. Guru Bahasa Inggeris semasa junior form namanya Mr Purushotanam – dia suka ajar bahasa Inggeris tetapi menggunakan peribahasa Melayu. Antara yang paling famous: bila dia nak rotan kitorang (ada yang kantoi conteng di atas meja Language Lab yang mahal yang diberikan Kerajaan Jepun kepada MCKK), dia bersyarah:

“Sepandai-pandai tupai melompat, akhirnya kena juga….” Piap kena rotan.

Semasa saya kembali menguruskan pasukan hoki MCKK antara tahun 2007 hingga 2010, saya minta tolong Mr Thaman Singh yang dah berumur dekat 70an untuk jadi coach. Beliau dibantu Mr Pala, bekas kerani dari SM Clifford (di sebelah).

Mr Thaman dan Mr Pala sayang anak-anak Melayu ini seperti anak mereka, walaupun mereka sudah umur lewat 60an dan hidup atas pencen guru bukan ijazah/kerani kerajaan.

Dalam politik – saya ramai kawan-kawan karib dari masyarakat India. Sdr Manivanan Gowin Sdr Kesavan Subramaniam Sdr Kumar Thuraisingam DS Edmund Santhara, Sdr Ravi, Dr Shan, Sdr Rony Murugan Dr Jayabalan Thambyappa dan ramai lagi. Di Pandan, saya banyak dibantu Sdr Arvindh, Sdr Vicky, Sdr Kali dan ramai lagi.

Saya memilih untuk melihat yang baik, bukan yang mencambahkan kebencian.

Dan ramai orang baik di kalangan masyarakat India, seperti ramainya orang baik dari kalangan orang Melayu, Cina, Iban, Kadazan, Arab, Mat Salleh dan lain-lain.

Allah tidak menjadikan kita berbeza-beza selain dari untuk kita berkenalan, kerana dari berkenalan itu mengingatkan kita kepada kekuasaanNya.

Siapa Sotong Sekarang?

Eric See To (yang dipercayai berselindung di belakang nama pena Lim Sian See selama ini) memberi alasan hanya akan berdebat dengan saya jika saya boleh bawa YB Tony Pua berdebat dengannya.

Ada yang hubungi saya supaya jangan melayan macaimaya beryuran mahal seperti Lim Sian See ini.

Jangan bimbang, saya ada sebab kenapa saya melayan orang begini.

Lim Sian See diagung-agungkan oleh orang-orang Melayu yang masih menyokong Najib Razak. Pembohongannya disebarkan sesama mereka, dosa pahala ditolak ke tepi. Mereka menunggu skrip dari Lim Sian See untuk putar belit bagi menutup salah laku pentadbiran Dato’ Seri Najib.

Akhirnya Lim Sian See ini menjadi sangat angkuh. Dengan berselindung di belakang nama pena dan identiti palsu, dia memaki hamun dan menghina sesiapa sahaja yang tidak bersetuju dengan Dato’ Seri Najib. Dia boleh memperlekehkan mantan Perdana Menteri seperti Tun Mahathir dengan pelbagai panggilan tetapi dia tetap diagungkan oleh Melayu yang menjadi macaimaya untuk mempertahankan Dato’ Seri Najib.

Selama ini, Lim Sian See ini memanggil saya sotong untuk mengulangi fitnah-fitnah bahawa saya seorang homoseksual, saya penakut, saya pondan dan lain-lain. Beliau boleh berbuat begitu kerana orang yang difitnah tidak boleh mengambil tindakan saman kerana dia dilindungi oleh identiti yang tidak wujud itu.
Maka saya pun ajak dia untuk berdebat dalam isu yang dia sering perlekehkan orang lain – iaitu ekonomi dan percukaian.

Dia ambil masa sebulan untuk beri jawapan. Itu pun jawapan putar belit iaitu beliau bersetuju tetapi dengan syarat saya bawa YB Tony Pua sekali untuk berdebat juga dengannya. Dia ingat itu kemuncak kepandaiannya – untuk lari dari berdebat dengan saya, dia membelit orang lain. Dia mahu tunjuk dia berani kerana berani berdebat dengan dua orang sekali.

Dia mungkin diagung-agungkan oleh beberapa kerat Melayu yang mendapat beberapa ratus sebulan sahaja untuk menjadi macaimaya (sedangkan dia dapat lantikan tinggi yang imbuhannya tinggi), tetapi rakyat Malaysia yang lain bukanlah bodoh.

Pendeta kepada macaimaya Dato’ Seri Najib ini akhirnya sama sahaja dengan ketua-ketuanya dari Umno: kuat berkokok di belakang, tetapi takut berdepan untuk diadili oleh rakyat.

Saya pernah menjemput kesemua pimpinan Umno di dalam gambar ini untuk berdebat – Dato’ Seri Najib sendiri, Khairy Jamaluddin (isu fitnah Liwat2.0 ke atas Anwar Ibrahim), Rahman Dahlan (isu dakwaan beliau rakyat Malaysia dapat untung dari 1MDB melalui IPP) dan Khairul Azwan Haron (isu skandal MARA beli hartanah mahal di Australia).

Kesemua memberi pelbagai dalih, seperi mana Lim Sian See memberi alasan sekarang.

Sebab itu saya langsung tidak terasa marah atau terkesan bila macaimaya Umno dan pendeta mereka seperti Lim Sian See ini terus mengejek saya dengan panggilan sotong.
Rakyat Malaysia tahu kalaulah kita perlu memilih ahli-ahli politik yang penakut dan lari dari cabaran, kita tahu siapa mereka ini.

I Accept Objective and Fair Criticisms

On Sunday, a Malay Mail Online journalist asked me two simple questions that eventually developed into a headline grabbing “Rafizi versus Ambiga” when the original report was reproduced by other portals.

While I do not want to drag this issue out any longer, it is important to clarify how the headlines had somewhat deviated from the actual context of the interview.

To be fair to the Malay Mail Online portal, the journalist included the background information that needed to go with the report to provide the right context.

I respect the editorial decision to omit a certain portion of my input (perhaps to cut the length), as I know I would have the right to clarify, if necessary.

Did PKR do enough work on the ground?

I was asked to respond to Ambiga’s tweets on Sept 1, 2017, criticising PKR for “not working enough on the ground to win the general election (in comparison to Umno and Bersatu).”

Ambiga also alleged that “PKR’s internal squabbles have dragged ‘them’ down.

My main comments were actually in relation to Ambiga’s view that PKR is more interested in engaging in internal squabbles, rather than working on the ground to win voters over.

First of all, the assessment is not fair and is not objective.

Every week, many PKR leaders work closely with party activists and volunteers around the country to energise the grassroots campaign. There are literally hundreds of small campaign activities at local constituency levels being carried out each week.

I have been spending the last 10 weekends non-stop on the road, visiting at least six to eight marginal constituencies around the country, especially in key swing states like Johor, Kedah and Negri Sembilan.

There are activists and volunteers who travel with me every weekend to remote rural and semi-rural areas to make sure our campaign is more personal and relevant to voters.

As I indicated in my answer to the journalist, in July and August alone, I had done 61 ceramah/campaign programmes covering 46 marginal constituencies contested by PKR, Amanah, Bersatu and DAP. The campaign videos that are carefully micro-targeted to profiled swing voters in these constituencies reached a cumulative 1.1 million views in two months.

Hence my remarks that her criticism that “PKR leaders seem to be more occupied with fighting each other instead of working on the ground” is completely unfair, biased and misinformed.

If only she had expanded her source of information on what is actually happening – outside the urban circle of Klang Valley, beyond the select few PKR leaders from the legal fraternity with whom she is acquainted – I am certain she would not have made the remark.

Unfair to common Malaysians working for change

While I am not at all offended by her view that we are not doing work, I cannot speak on behalf of the activists and volunteers (in the thousands) who sacrificed their time and money every week to campaign quietly on the ground.

After all, it is our strategy to work quietly on the ground without too much publicity because we had learnt some lessons from the last general election. Mega ceramah or rallies that attract tens of thousands of people do not necessarily guarantee an electoral win at marginal constituencies because, more often than not, people travel from all over the state to attend the mega ceramah.

More dangerously, if the mega ceramah is attended mostly by the Chinese or non-Malays, Umno can easily manipulate it to frighten Malay fence-sitters in these rural and semi-rural constituencies, by saying that the Chinese, through DAP, are going to take over.

While I understand her concern for the alleged lack of campaign visibility (hence her comparison that Bersatu seems to be doing more than PKR does. Bersatu’s campaign tends to revolve more around Dr Mahathir Mohamad, therefore they have to maximise his attendance by focusing on mega ceramah), I wish she had at least tried to be fair to the small, targeted campaigns in many constituencies that run quietly every week.

The biggest challenge of this general election for the opposition (whether or not we will have a straight fight against BN nationwide) is to energise the ground by getting more activists and volunteers to join the campaign early. Any unnecessary and unfair comments on their efforts understandably will dampen morale and are therefore counter-productive.

Difference of opinions goes both ways

I can understand Ambiga’s reminder on the need to respect the opinion of others and to uphold freedom of speech when she responded to news reports on the issue. In fact, if she can recall, I have listened to and relied heavily on her inputs and advice in some of the most controversial decisions PKR had ever made.

Prior to the Kajang Move, I met her personally at Bangsar Shopping Centre over lunch to listen to her views on the performance of the Selangor menteri besar then. At the meeting, she also passed a document that eventually formed one of the key considerations that led to PKR’s decision to remove Khalid Ibrahim through the Kajang Move.

Likewise, I am fully aware of her disagreement when Pakatan Harapan was formed. She was at the roundtable discussion chaired by Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and she made her views very clear then that an opposition coalition without PAS was not going to be effective.

This is what I meant by my remark “she had always been against Harapan from day one.” I didn’t mean that she is opposed to Harapan politically, as implied by the news headlines “Ambiga is anti-Harapan: Rafizi.” It was in the context that she never believed that Harapan stands a chance if PAS is not a part of it, let alone when Harapan has to fight both PAS and Umno in thee-cornered fights.

There were times I agreed with her opinions; there were times I did not. But I always listened, provided that the view is fair and objective. That is exactly what we both are fighting for: a mature and tolerant society that can exchange opinions freely, objectively and consistently.

On the point of consistency, this is where I might have a different view when it comes to the much feared “public spats over internal politics.” Everyone expects politicians from the same party or the same coalition not to criticise each other publicly over trivial internal matters that could have been resolved internally, especially when the issues are not really related to public interests.

However, the issue of whether or not PKR continues to beg publicly for an electoral cooperation with PAS is not an internal PKR issue. It is a public issue that affects every Malaysian. Especially when it is very clear that the chance a straight fight can be achieved is very remote and Harapan is running out of time to finalise preparations for the general election.

PKR has managed the split on this major issue quietly, within the confines of our meeting rooms over the last two years. Given the risk that the impasse within PKR may drag Harapan’s preparation, I would have thought that Ambiga, of all people, would agree that speaking out on the issue publicly is a necessity.

By doing so, not only do we uphold the freedom of speech we cherish dearly; we are also able to speak freely and allow a public discourse on this, which is actually a prerequisite to breaking the current impasse.

After all, public figures (be they politicians, NGO leaders and public officials) must be as transparent as possible in everything that we do. We have to be transparent about the assets we have, we have to be transparent about our lifestyle, we have to be transparent about our positions on key public issues such as the PKR-PAS electoral cooperation.

When the consideration has to be made between upholding transparency and freedom to speak freely on important public issues versus the need to portray a united party, I know I always have to choose the former. The obsession with maintaining a united front is precisely one of the key reasons Umno and PAS become what they are today.

Most importantly, if we always fall back to the excuse of party discipline to suppress difference of opinions within a political party, why do we cheer for Mahathir when he spoke against Najib Abdul Razak’s excesses? Or why did we stand by Mohamad Sabu and the progressive Muslim leaders in Amanah when they had to go through their difference of opinions with Abdul Hadi Awang publicly?

We cannot pick and choose when to crack the whip to enforce “party unity” selectively because it gives room for abuse the way Najib did with the Umno leadership.

The difference of opinions goes both ways. In fact, it goes in many different ways. Our society is learning to sift through the noise and they know how to judge public figures based on our consistency and the principle we uphold.

The three-cornered question

I maintain my view that any discussion or attempt to pursue negotiation with PAS for an electoral pact has to be minimised. Even if it were to remain an option, it should be relegated to the lowest of all strategies because it is highly unlikely that it can happen.

I wish Ambiga had reflected on the dilemma of Harapan activists on the ground preparing for the general election at this eleventh hour. It is a fact that more attacks against Harapan actually come from PAS than Umno on the ground.

I analyse the data on my social media (thousands of interactions on daily basis). The majority of attacks, innuendos and lies against Harapan actually come from PAS members (approximately 42 percent on average), despite the fact that all the issues I carry every day is about Najib’s largesse and incompetency. Irrespective of whether an issue touches on PAS or not, it has become a routine for PAS grassroots members to attack Harapan on the ground.

This is where I think some of my colleagues, Ambiga included, have failed to realise that the animosity cuts very deeply between PAS grassroots members and Harapan grassroots supporters. Even in the event of a straight fight, the votes are no longer transferable between PAS and Harapan parties (and vice-versa).

Instead of a numerical advantage that we hope for through a straight fight, a more calamitous scenario is probable. Any form of electoral cooperation between PAS and PKR (or Harapan) will disillusion the non-Malay voters who might interpret that as a pure political expediency at the expense of principles.

The votes between Malay voters of PAS and PKR or Harapan grassroots supporters are not transferable, given the deep cut caused by the venomous animosity since Pakatan Rakyat broke down. In the end, without the high support and the high turnout of the non-Malays and the “sabotage” of vote transfers of Malay voters of the respective Harapan/PAS parties, Najib will not have a problem winning GE14.

My decision to prioritise preparation for three-cornered fights over continuing efforts to woo PAS is not due to what I feel of PAS or anyone. Given the prevailing political atmosphere and evidence so far, we have no choice but to prepare for three-cornered fights. Fortunately, surveys consistently show stagnated support for Umno (which has been reduced to just below 40 percent among Malay voters) and a high support for the issues championed by Harapan.

If we focus on the right issues and prepare adequately with whatever the time left, Harapan can win Putrajaya despite three-cornered fights nationwide. The probability of that is much higher than the probability that PAS will change its mind anytime soon.

Let’s move on and focus on the bread and butter issues that can make life better for the people we claim we are fighting for.

RAFIZI RAMLI is PKR vice-president and Pandan MP.