Rafizi Ramli vs Ong Tee Keat(?) di Pandan...

It was an initiation of sorts for PKR director of strategy Rafizi Ramli at a rally last night in Pandan, Selangor, 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 of 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.”

 Rafizi Ramli to go for Pandan parliamentary seat

Pakatan perkenal Rafizi sebagai calon Pandan...

Barisan pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat pada malam tadi memperkenalkan Pengarah Strategi PKR Rafizi Ramli sebagai calon untuk kawasan parlimen Pandan.

Ucapan pemimpin berkenaan termasuk Ketua Umum PKR Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim juga penuh dengan pujian kepada Rafizi.

Dalam ceramah di Taman Seraya, dalam kawasan parlimen Pandan itu, Anwar berkata Rafizi merupakan antara individu yang bertanggungjawab menjalankan penyelidikan untuk dasar Pakatan, termasuk tawaran gaji minimum.

Nama Rafizi juga tidak putus-putus meniti di mulut pemimpin lain yang berucap, termasuk ADUN Teratai Janice Lee serta anggota parlimen Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua.

Pua dalam ucapannya di program dihadiri lebih 2,000 orang itu berkata, DAP tidak akan bertanding di kerusi Pandan kerana yakin dengan Rafizi yang disifatkannya sebagai individu yang bijak dan bertanggungjawab.

Ketika ditemui selepas itu, Rafizi yang memakai ves jentera pilihan raya PKR untuk kawasan parlimen P100 itu bagaimanapun berkata pengumuman tersebut bukanlah sesuatu yang dirancang.

Oleh sebab itulah beliau tidak berucap panjang dalam ceramah tersebut, katanya lagi yang tidak putus-putus dikerumuni oleh golongan muda yang ingin bergambar dan mendapatkan tandatangannya.

Cabaran sengit bertemu Tee Kiat
Katanya, beliau juga tidak tahu sekiranya beliau akan dipertandingkan di Kemaman pula di saat terakhir.

"Tentulah keputusan akan dibuat di saat akhir... Tapi orang Pandan tahu saya sudah lama turun ke kawasan ini," katanya.

Rafizi mengakui bahawa beliau akan berdepan cabaran sengit di kerusi tersebut, yang kini disandang bekas presiden MCA Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat.

Namun beliau yakin PKR akan mempunyai peluang yang baik di kawasan kerusi campuran dengan 25 peratus golongan miskin bandar dan 50 peratus golongan pengundi muda itu.

"Saya rasa keputusan 2008 bukan disebabkan Ong Tee Keat tetapi kerana pengundi memilih berdasarkan kaum.

"Pengundi Cina sudah membuat keputusan bahawa pilihan raya kali ini akan menjadi referendum kepada BN.

"Ong Tee Keat mempunyai sokongan kuat tapi kita akan pecahkan undi masyarakat Cina," katanya lagi yang terpaksa menghentikan perbualan dengan wartawan beberapa ketika untuk melayan permintaan individu yang ingin bergambar dengannya.

Beliau yakin, strategi kempen dengan menonjolkan jenama Pakatan itu akan membuahkan hasil untuk memecahkan blok pengundi berkenaan.

Selain Sabak Bernam, Pandan merupakan kawasan parlimen yang gagal dimenangi PKR dalam pilihan raya lalu di Selangor.- malaysiakini

cheers.