He never stops thinking, or dissecting even his own success.
So, 71 days after the most hard-fought general election in Malaysian history, where the opposition obtained more votes than the Barisan Nasional, and punctured the prime minister’s dream of a two-thirds majority, here is Rafizi Ramli looking ahead to the battle in five years, and being brutally honest.
"We can't keep riding on urban dissatisfaction to make the numbers. We are working on strategies to get the message across to rural areas," said the 36-year-old Parti Keadilan Rakyat director of strategy.
Sure, he is pleased that the opposition pact did well in GE13, rattling off the now well-known data and statistics that cements Pakatan Rakyat’s place at the main table of politics here. But that election is over and that urban support for the opposition is almost at saturation point.
Between now and GE14, more attention must be focused on the fears and concerns of rural Malay voters, he said in an interview with The Malaysian Insider.
"In the last election, we articulated concerns that were well accepted by urbanites, but now that we have the urban votes, we want to address the fear and concern of everyone else, in the rural areas, this is a key part of the strategy and if we can achieve this, we can win the next general election.
“It has to do with the fears of Malays on security and confidence in a multi-racial country and their livelihood in the rural areas. These are the issues that BN has been able to capitalise on successfully, to create a fear of Pakatan Rakyat," he noted.
Political commentators and analysts agree that BN managed to cling to power because it was able to keep intact its rural vote bank, especially those in Felda settlements. BN’s success was achieved by two means: by handing out cash to rural folk and promising more lucre if BN remained in power and also by warning Malays that their special privileges under the country’s affirmative action would be withdrawn if Pakatan Rakyat came to power.
Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) was expected to snare some of the rural votes for Pakatan Rakyat but it spent much time on the back foot, defending itself against accusations that it was a stooge of the DAP.
The party is facing the same problem during campaigning for the Kuala Besut state seat by-election.
Rafizi himself gave a hint of the new approach that PKR and Pakatan Rakyat may need to take to win some friends in the Malay community when he broke ranks with some of his opposition colleagues and supported the study of Islamic and Asian Civilisation Studies in private tertiary institutions.
Making too much of a fuss would only fit into the Malay right-wing argument that Chinese and non-Malays refuse to accept anything related to Islam, he noted in an interview earlier this week, disagreeing that the introduction of the course was another sign of creeping Islamisation in Malaysia.
Rafizi, who came to national prominence by peeling away the layers of the controversial National Feedlot project, says that in addition to reaching out to rural Malaysia, PKR also wants to boost its ranks with more young, talented, professionals.
PKR has already successfully blooded young talent into the party - a strategy that helped the party connect with young Malaysians.
“We are not just going to rely on the natural political process of rising up from below. We are looking at mechanisms where we can incubate talented people, " he said.
In GE13, Pakatan Rakyat won 89 parliament seats, an increase of seven from the previous election, of which DAP had the biggest haul with 38 seats, PKR won 30 and Pas garnered 21 seats.
And some of what worked in GE13 will be built upon. For example, expect PKR politicians to keep on harping on bread and butter issues.
"We did a good job articulating common bread and butter issues. These are strengths we will continue to build on because BN does not seem to be able to respond well to these issues," said the new MP for Pandan.
In the interview with The Malaysian Insider, he also spoke about:
* His experience in Parliament
So how is he responding to his role as a member of parliament, a seat that he won by a staggering 26,729 majority against MCA’s Gary Lim. Surprisingly the man who has locked horns with numerous BN leaders and has spoken before thousands at political rallies is nervous every time he rises to speak in Parliament.
"Until today, I feel nervous every time I want to stand up and say something in Parliament, so I am always preparing notes in advance, ‘’ he said.
What has surprised him is the treatment he has been receiving from BN backbenchers.
"I thought after all the havoc I've created in the last few years, they will not even smile at me, but I am surprised, they have been good to me," he added.
Rafizi joked his reception may have been different if Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil was in the House. Shahrizat’s husband and children were involved in the failed NFC project and she did not contest the general elections.
Shahrizat filed a defamation suit against Rafiz, one of three civil and criminal cases currently against him. He does not dwell too much on the legal battles ahead.
"I crossed the fear line two years ago. In my position, it is not productive to be afraid, because that is why they file law suits, to shut me up," Rafizi, who will be a father for the first time in November, said. – July 17, 2013.
"We can't keep riding on urban dissatisfaction to make the numbers. We are working on strategies to get the message across to rural areas," said the 36-year-old Parti Keadilan Rakyat director of strategy.
Sure, he is pleased that the opposition pact did well in GE13, rattling off the now well-known data and statistics that cements Pakatan Rakyat’s place at the main table of politics here. But that election is over and that urban support for the opposition is almost at saturation point.
Between now and GE14, more attention must be focused on the fears and concerns of rural Malay voters, he said in an interview with The Malaysian Insider.
"In the last election, we articulated concerns that were well accepted by urbanites, but now that we have the urban votes, we want to address the fear and concern of everyone else, in the rural areas, this is a key part of the strategy and if we can achieve this, we can win the next general election.
“It has to do with the fears of Malays on security and confidence in a multi-racial country and their livelihood in the rural areas. These are the issues that BN has been able to capitalise on successfully, to create a fear of Pakatan Rakyat," he noted.
Political commentators and analysts agree that BN managed to cling to power because it was able to keep intact its rural vote bank, especially those in Felda settlements. BN’s success was achieved by two means: by handing out cash to rural folk and promising more lucre if BN remained in power and also by warning Malays that their special privileges under the country’s affirmative action would be withdrawn if Pakatan Rakyat came to power.
Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) was expected to snare some of the rural votes for Pakatan Rakyat but it spent much time on the back foot, defending itself against accusations that it was a stooge of the DAP.
The party is facing the same problem during campaigning for the Kuala Besut state seat by-election.
Rafizi himself gave a hint of the new approach that PKR and Pakatan Rakyat may need to take to win some friends in the Malay community when he broke ranks with some of his opposition colleagues and supported the study of Islamic and Asian Civilisation Studies in private tertiary institutions.
Making too much of a fuss would only fit into the Malay right-wing argument that Chinese and non-Malays refuse to accept anything related to Islam, he noted in an interview earlier this week, disagreeing that the introduction of the course was another sign of creeping Islamisation in Malaysia.
Rafizi, who came to national prominence by peeling away the layers of the controversial National Feedlot project, says that in addition to reaching out to rural Malaysia, PKR also wants to boost its ranks with more young, talented, professionals.
PKR has already successfully blooded young talent into the party - a strategy that helped the party connect with young Malaysians.
“We are not just going to rely on the natural political process of rising up from below. We are looking at mechanisms where we can incubate talented people, " he said.
In GE13, Pakatan Rakyat won 89 parliament seats, an increase of seven from the previous election, of which DAP had the biggest haul with 38 seats, PKR won 30 and Pas garnered 21 seats.
And some of what worked in GE13 will be built upon. For example, expect PKR politicians to keep on harping on bread and butter issues.
"We did a good job articulating common bread and butter issues. These are strengths we will continue to build on because BN does not seem to be able to respond well to these issues," said the new MP for Pandan.
In the interview with The Malaysian Insider, he also spoke about:
* His experience in Parliament
So how is he responding to his role as a member of parliament, a seat that he won by a staggering 26,729 majority against MCA’s Gary Lim. Surprisingly the man who has locked horns with numerous BN leaders and has spoken before thousands at political rallies is nervous every time he rises to speak in Parliament.
"Until today, I feel nervous every time I want to stand up and say something in Parliament, so I am always preparing notes in advance, ‘’ he said.
What has surprised him is the treatment he has been receiving from BN backbenchers.
"I thought after all the havoc I've created in the last few years, they will not even smile at me, but I am surprised, they have been good to me," he added.
Rafizi joked his reception may have been different if Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil was in the House. Shahrizat’s husband and children were involved in the failed NFC project and she did not contest the general elections.
Shahrizat filed a defamation suit against Rafiz, one of three civil and criminal cases currently against him. He does not dwell too much on the legal battles ahead.
"I crossed the fear line two years ago. In my position, it is not productive to be afraid, because that is why they file law suits, to shut me up," Rafizi, who will be a father for the first time in November, said. – July 17, 2013.
BY JENNIFER GOMEZ
JULY 17, 2013
JULY 17, 2013
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