Malaysia’s Rafizi to face off Anwar’s daughter in party polls

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia’s Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli is set to compete with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s daughter for their party’s deputy presidency, a development that’s set to heighten tensions in the country’s ruling bloc.

Nurul Izzah Anwar – who’s currently the vice president of People’s Justice Party – confirmed her candidacy for the second most senior position in a Facebook post on Friday (May 9). Rafizi’s nomination was also affirmed by his spokesperson. Voting will take place on May 23. 

Nurul defended her decision to contest for the role amid “accusations, scrutiny and personal attacks,” saying “I am confident that those who read this statement rationally can distinguish between nepotism, which is being appointed by a family member for a position versus a competition voted for by the grassroots.” A number of leaders in the party, including Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek and Selangor Chief Minister Amirudin Shari, have pledged their support for her.

The People’s Justice Party is holding its first internal polls since Anwar, who helms the party, became prime minister in November 2022. 

Earlier this week, Rafizi, who is the incumbent deputy president, said he welcomed news of potential candidacy for Nurul and Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution. He also signalled that he would resign from the Cabinet to focus on campaigning at the grassroots level should he lose the contest.

Any decision by Rafizi to step down as minister may have ramifications on Malaysia’s economic plans. He is one of the key officials pushing for the country to phase out petrol subsidies, with the government approaching a mid-year deadline to end blanket assistance for its most popular gasoline. He is also supervising the five-year economic blueprint known as the Malaysia Plan, the 13th edition of which is set to be launched this year. BLOOMBERG