Finance Twitter : “This decision was made after much deliberation as I embark on a new path to pursue further studies,
a journey rooted in service and contribution and not necessarily bound
by the world of politics,” – she said. Nurul said she would remain a PKR
member and support the struggle for a better Malaysia championed by the
party’s leadership under Anwar (her father).
However, in refusing to accept her resignation, PKR Central Leadership Council has instead granted her a leave of absence – indefinitely.
PKR vice-president Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who is Home Affairs
Minister, will serve as acting deputy president. This means the party
deputy president post is being “reserved or frozen” for an unknown
period.
PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil, who is also Malaysia’s
Communication Minister cum Propaganda Minister, said – “We discussed
Nurul Izzah’s request to step down as deputy president
and, after hearing her views and those of the party leadership, the
council agreed to grant her temporary leave of absence, which will begin
after the national congress for an indefinite period,”
Exactly why Nurul Izzah’s desire to step down as PKR’s No. 2 leader
was rejected, and her resignation was re-packaged as “pursuing further
studies” by the party leadership? The short answer – to save face. The
long answer – to stop the perception that PKR is a sinking ship as even
Anwar’s own daughter disagreed, clashed and abandoned the PM’s leadership and PKR’s direction.
If Izzah – “Puteri Reformasi” or Princess of Reform – is allowed to quit, it would be a slap in the face
of the Premier himself. Mr Anwar can’t explain why his own daughter,
groomed to take over the party, is quitting. It creates FUD – fear,
uncertainty, and doubt. People leave jobs primarily to seek career
growth, better pay, or a healthier work environment. You don’t suddenly
leave your deputy CEO job.
Yes, nobody believes Nurul Izzah suddenly wanted to
further her studies after she was elected around 14 months ago in PKR’s
internal election, beating incumbent Rafizi Ramli after an intense
campaign. Only Anwar’s cult supporters believe such unbelievable fairy
tales. She would not have fought tooth and nail with Rafizi for the
deputy president post, only to step down now to further studies.
Rafizi, Malaysia’s former economy minister, later left PKR
and took over leadership of Bersama party in May. Why would she make an
enemy out of her good reformist comrade by toppling him if she had no
interest in the first place to lead the party as the deputy president?
Worse, after strategist Rafizi left, she also wanted to leave now after
creating all the mess that has weakened the party.
At best, Nurul Izzah has decided to give up his new toy after
discovering that PKR deputy president isn’t a cushy job, and she was not
up to the mark. At worst, she is giving up after losing hope
with both her daddy and the party. Either way, it does not bode well
for a ruling party that has bragged about Anwar’s popularity, but
suffered several crushing defeats in state elections.
The fact that Anwar is reduced to trusting someone like the clueless
and incompetent Saifuddin Nasution as acting deputy president speaks
volumes about the serious problems inside PKR. It seems the party is not
only lacking talents, but Anwar’s half-baked plot to bulldoze dynastic
politics and nepotism, contrasting with the party’s historical
“Reformasi” roots against entrenched political patronage, has backfired.
When power-crazy Anwar plotted against his own deputy – Rafizi Ramli –
last year, he arrogantly, stubbornly, and hypocritically ignored and
rubbished critics and analysts’ argument that elevating her own daughter
to positions like the deputy presidency would undermine PKR’s founding
reformist ideals, which long criticized other Malaysian leaders for
family favouritism.
The family-centric leadership model is one of the reasons that
alienates grassroots supporters who expect merit-based advancement
rather than hereditary succession, leading to a loss of confidence,
distrust, and even hatred over Anwar’s treachery and betrayal
after he got power. Even though Anwar, Nurul, and their supporters
maintain that her victory was won through legitimate intra-party
elections, the truth speaks otherwise.
To prevent Rafizi from winning, the cheating began
when Parti Keadilan Rakyat under the instruction of Anwar abolished its
“one member, one vote” system for national leadership elections and
switched to a delegate-based system. This effectively transferred the
responsibility of electing the party’s top six national office-bearers
from 30,000 delegates to merely 222 divisions.
Four years ago, Mr. Rafizi won the party’s No 2 post when he defeated
Anwar’s loyalist, Saifuddin Nasution. Despite Anwar’s open support for
Saifuddin, Rafizi received roughly 68,992 votes compared to Saifuddin’s
50,038 votes. In the same 2022 party election, Selangor Chief Minister
Amirudin Shari defeated Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak, who
happened to be Anwar’s political secretary and trusted crony.
To unseat Rafizi, by hook or by crook, Anwar had to play dirty,
including changing the party election system. The PM knew the only way
to topple his deputy was to control or “bribe” a small 222 divisions
rather than 30,000 delegates. Under pressure, Nurul reluctantly agreed
to be used by her daddy to contest against Rafizi in May 2025. That has
tainted her integrity and reputation.
Therefore, furthering studies is just a lazy and lame excuse. After
Nurul defeated Rafizi and was crowned as the new deputy president, she
led PKR to a disastrous defeat in the Sabah state election. Annihilated
with just 1 seat, she practically went silent – and missing – since
then. She did not care about the Johor state election, and did not
bother to help in the Negeri Sembilan state election.
When someone like Nurul Izzah went MIA (missing in action) and kept a
low profile, it’s not just a short burst of frustration or sulking.
It’s a demonstration of dejection, depression, and disappointment. That
sadness translates to hopelessness,
and eventually gives up entirely. And she was right to give up after
Sabah, as his daddy would lead Johor and Negeri Sembilan to two more
crushing defeats.
Apparently, she had disagreed with certain directions the party was
taking to the extent of facing “pressure from the party internally” to
step aside. Internal source revealed that unlike Anwar Ibrahim, “Nurul Izzah is principled
on some issues, and was not willing to shift on them.” Her differences
in opinion from her father on the party’s direction continued to
snowball till it exploded.
The final straw that broke the camel’s back was when narcissist PM Anwar cut direct constituency funding
from specific PKR lawmakers such as PKR MPs Wong Chen (Subang),Lee
Chean Chung (Petaling Jaya), and Rodziah Ismail (Ampang), who have
vocally dissented or aligned themselves with internal party opposition.
Anwar only welcomes apple polishers like Ramanan.
The affected MPs complained that their parliamentary service offices
were completely denied access to the MyKHAS online portal, an official
system used by lawmakers to manage and administer federal constituency
allocations. Because Anwar dares not sack them, he cowardly bullies and intimidates them by denying his own PKR MPs their rightful constituency funding.
Anwar pushed back against accusations of starving constituencies. He
even argued that federal development allocations are for the people and
local communities, not an exclusive entitlement to be disbursed through
the offices of elected Members of Parliament (MPs). Yet, he can’t
explain why a similar discrimination does not apply to all 30 MPs from Barisan Nasional (BN), who have declared war on Anwar-led PH coalition.
The cowardice is
written on the wall when the PM only has the balls to punish a few MPs
from his own party. Facing a bigger force from governing partner BN,
Anwar is as quiet as a church mouse. When BN chairman Zahid Hamidi
challenged the PM to simply sack any minister he is unhappy with after
Anwar tried to flex muscles by telling ministers to resign for attacking
fellow unity government partners, the Premier responded by keeping
silent.
That was not the only issue the “Puteri Reformasi” clashes with her “Fake Reformist” father. Her criticism of Azam Baki, the former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief Commissioner caught with his pants down in shareholding and corporate mafia scandals has also added to the pressure for her to step aside.
Anwar, who extended Azam’s one-year contract thrice, has repeatedly, fiercely, and suspiciously defended
the former anti-graft chief, saying he has shown “extraordinary
courage” in going after powerful figures allegedly involved in
corruption. Under pressure, a special committee to probe the allegations
against Azam was formed by the Anwar administration, but has not made
its findings public.
Nurul Izzah had called for the government to expand the scope of
investigation on Azam and stressed the need for independent oversight of
the anti-graft agency. She saw the actions of her father were
inconsistent with the principles she and the party had
long championed. But her public comments ultimately hurt Anwar and the
party. Her inability to offer the strategy or charisma that Rafizi did
makes Nurul practically useless.
Still, it raises a simple question – why did Anwar need to force
Rafizi out by pushing his daughter up? Not only PKR is now without a
strategist, but Izzah’s resignation further exposes the lack of
leadership in PKR’s lineup. Anwar’s push to create a dynasty at a time
when his daughter isn’t fit for the job has created “bad blood” with pro-Rafizi’s faction that openly attacks his leadership.
It doesn’t matter whether Nurul really goes for studies or not. She
has proven to be an ineffective leader despite her short and
unsuccessful stint as PKR deputy president. She should not have allowed
herself to be used by daddy to topple Rafizi. It also doesn’t matter
whether PKR president Anwar tries to cover up his
daughter’s loss of trust in him. The damage is done. PKR is on the
right track to a stunning loss in the next national election.
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