Credible BN rebels can still help Pakatan run Putrajaya, says Rafizi
Clara Chooi, TMI
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will offer roles to credible Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders who turned rogue this general election to help carry out its reform agenda and forge a “national reconciliation” process, PKR’s Rafizi Ramli said today.
The party strategy director cited examples like the MCA’s Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and Umno’s Datuk Kamilia Ibrahim, saying both leaders were credible in their own right and had abilities that PR may need to drive its policies forward.
“If we were to win, the task of carrying out reforms and to forge national reconciliation for both BN and PR parties is going to be humongous.
“We cannot continue with the political contest after the elections. If we win, it is our wish to hit the ground running and we need all support, including from the good politicians in BN.
“We need them to convince everyone to put aside partisan politics and focus on reforms,” he told a press conference here.
Rafizi (picture), however, said he was in no position to state what kind of role or position PR could offer to these rebels from BN parties, but said that in any respected government, even these politicians should have opportunities to share in the process of democracy.
“Leaders like Kamilia and Ong Tee Keat… they are high standing, formidable, respected… and they are clean.
“They are part of the hope that even after losing, BN can continue to play the role of a formidable and competent opposition,” he said.
The “last thing” that PR would want, Rafizi added, was for BN to implode and destroy itself should it lose federal power.
He said both coalitions, PR and BN, must co-exist for the sake of pushing through non-partisan policies and create a healthy democratic environment in the government.
