Rafizi 'introduced' as PKR candidate for Pandan at rally

It was an initiation of sorts for PKR director of strategy Rafizi Ramli at a rally in Pandan, Selangor last night, with Pakatan Rakyat colleagues introducing him as the man fit to oust long-time incumbent MP Ong Tee Keat.

From DAP’s Teratai assemblyperson Jenice Lee and PKR disciplinary committee chairperson Dr Tan Kee Kwong to Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, the speakers at the event which attracted about 2,000 people had nothing but glowing reviews for Rafizi.

“(DAP) will not try snatch this seat away as we believe that PKR will produce a good candidate.

“If Rafizi contests here would you support him? You have to support someone who is smart, who does the work, so that the future of Malaysians is secure,” Pua said.

His boss and PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, too, put in a good word for Rafizi, who that night appeared to be formally introduced as PKR’s candidate for the seat.

Anwar, on the other hand, gave Rafizi, best known for spearheading exposes on the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC), his “congratulations” for  Rafizi’s “focused and consistent manner in exposing a scandal which brought shame to the nation”.

Rafizi, who was clad in a vest with the letters P100 - the code for the Pandan parliamentary seat - was however less upfront in his speech, using it instead to joke about his ‘favourite topic’, NFC.

‘I may go back to Kemaman’

Met after the event, the man of the hour, who was mobbed by mostly young supporters wanting photographs and autographs, was more coy about his candidacy.

“(The speeches endorsing me) were not planned. It’s just that they are my friends so it does come off as an initiation...

“I may even go back to Kemaman (to contest), I don’t know,” he said, of his hometown where he has been previously speculated to contest.

However, he admitted that he has started putting in groundwork in Pandan in the past six months.

“If you look at the last general election results, (Pandan) voted on racial lines. PKR won the Malay votes, and I believe as long as we go down early and work very closely with DAP and PAS, we have a fair chance, even though the incumbent is Ong Tee Keat,” he said.

All the same, he believes it is still “an uphill battle” given the former MCA president's presence in the area for more than 20 years.

Ong was the Ampang Jaya MP from 1989 to 2004, before contesing and winning the newly-created Pandan constituency in 2004 and 2008.

‘Pandan ripe for Pakatan’

“There is not a place in Pandan where you cannot find a plaque or something with his name on it,” Rafizi quipped.

“Demographically, Pandan is ripe for Pakatan. It is a (racially) mixed seat, it’s urban, young, education background is good but it depends on the fight that Ong will put up.”

He believes that the “winning formula” in Pandan is for DAP, PAS and PKR machinery to work closely together and show “that it is not about Ong Tee Keat, but a referendum against BN and MCA”.

Last night’s solid backing from DAP’s machinery, which was seen providing assistance throughout the PKR rally, he said, is also a good indication of things to come.

This would be especially important to win over the Chinese voters, some of whom, he admitted, do not even know his name.

“Jenice tells me she’s come up with a Chinese name for me. I hope it’s a version of my name and not something like ‘cowboy’ or anything like that.”