The lunch meeting of Ms Nurul Izzah Anwar, daughter of Malaysia’s prime minister-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim, with Khairy Jamaluddin , a political adversary and former chief of the Umno Youth sent social media in a frenzy, triggered speculations from those in their respective political circles, and stirred controversy as to the fate of the Pakatan Harapan party.
Earlier in the week, Ms Nurul Izzah jolted Malaysia’s political scene with her sudden and unexpected resignation as PKR’s senior vice-president. Reason of her resignation has not been made public yet, however, a few witnesses aired what they saw as apparently distressed at a party caucus in November following a touchy internal election. The election had Mr Rafizi — extensively known as someone who has the backing of Ms Nurul Izzah and Datuk Seri Anwa — being pushed to the sidelines by Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali for the post of PKR deputy president.
In a photo taken by Mr Rafizi, the caption says, “Every now & then, Khairykj, Izzah & I met for lunch. We can be from different parties but we share the same aspiration, to see Malaysia that draws strength from differences.”
PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said internal developments in Pakatan Harapan (PH) pushed Nurul Izzah Anwar to relinquish the PKR vice-presidency, Penang PKR chairmanship and from the government posts she was holding.
According to Saifuddin, the move was not due to internal issues in PKR as many have hypothesize but more about what is happening within PH itself. Izzah has been known to hold on fast to the idealism of her struggle.
After the astonishing resignation of Ms Nurul Izzah, she thanked both Mr Rafizi and Mr Khairy for their show of support. She also maintained that Mr Rafizi was the best candidate for the party’s deputy chief.
In a previous Tweet, Mr Rafizi said, “She is not withdrawing from politics. I read it as a decision to retain the idealism of the struggle amid the political chaos.”