M'sia economy minister Rafizi Ramli resigns after failed leadership bid, will start podcast as he's 'free to speak'

Former Malaysian Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli has made good on his promise to quit his position after losing his role as Deputy President in a recent party election, formally resigning on Jun. 16.

He is set to be followed by Natural Resources and Environmental Stability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, whose last day will be Jul. 3.

Rafizi will remain a member of parliament and has indicated that he plans to remain politically active, revealing that he will launch a tell-all podcast starting this upcoming Friday, Jun. 20.

We'll meet again

Free Malaysia Today reports that Rafizi wrote a farewell message to Ministry of Economy staff members, thanking them for their service and contribution to Malaysia's economy.

Telling them, "god-willing, we will meet again", he said he had learnt much from them, especially since, as minister, he needed to be knowledgeable in a wide variety of sectors, such as health, agriculture, energy and education.

He said that he had no concerns about the Malaysian government's capability to "plot the nation's development" as "the backbone of the government are the civil servants who love this country so much".

Both Rafizi and Nik Nazmi had contested positions in the May Parti Keadilan Rakyat (People's Justice Party, PKR) elections but ultimately lost.

Rafizi is known in equal measure for his data-driven approach to policy reform, as well as for being a passionate, outspoken, and firebrand activist.

He has served as Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's right-hand man since the defection of former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali to Bersatu during the 2020 "Sheraton Move", which led to the collapse of the first government led by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, which was itself led by PKR.

Azmin, coincidentally, was also the Economy Minister at the time.

Concerns

Rafizi failed to defend his Deputy President role from Nurul Izzah Anwar, daughter of Anwar, who is also the party's President.

Nik Nazmi lost his elected Vice President position at the same time.

Both men submitted their resignations in the wake of their losses, saying that they lacked a mandate from their own party to continue their reform effort and that their resignations would take effect after they had cleared their leave.

Anwar did not outright reject their resignations, and the Malaysian PM has urged both to reconsider, so far to no avail.

Rafizi's resignation is unlikely to cause Anwar's government to collapse; his resignation comes amidst concerns about nepotism.

Nurul Izzah's relation to Anwar has come under fire despite having been a successful activist and MP in her own right.

However, she lost her seat in the same general election that saw her father rise to the summit of Malaysian politics.

Her overwhelming victory in party elections has raised concerns about the party's direction and internal processes, although many of those concerns were raised by Rafizi himself.

The deputy president role is considered to be particularly important as Anwar is now term-limited as party president, and at 77 years old, questions have been raised about how much longer he will remain as PM.

Podtificate

When Rafizi announced his resignation on May 28,  he said that he had "entered politics to promote a new political culture based on accountability and the people's mandate".

Rafizi seems dead set on promoting a new political culture and has decided that he will do so by starting a new podcast.

"Yang Berhenti Mentari" (YBM), or as translated by MalaysiaKini "One who has quit as minister", will be Rafizi's new platform.

He added that he is no longer "bound by government ethics and confidentiality" and that he is now "free to speak".

Rafizi said in a social media post that he intends for the podcast to be "objective, fact-based" and will "provide a fair understanding to everyone".

He intended the commentary to be balanced, quipping that there will be some "bakar", burning, and "beri pencerahan", or enlightening.

He will join fellow former minister Khairy Jamaluddin in the podcasting space, where the former health minister has reinvented himself as a popular commentator on Malaysian politics.

Klopp-inspired

Also taking to social media was Nik Nazmi.

Although the environment minister has yet to formally resign, it appears that he has cleared out his office.

He shared that leaving the ministry was not easy for him; he paid tribute to the team he had led for two years, saying that they had reached "dream team level" with "incredible commitment, capability, and authority".

But he reiterated his belief that a "party mandate was essential for broad reform" and that his decision to quit was final.

Quoting the former Liverpool football club manager Jurgen Klopp's resignation message to fans, that deciding to leave despite loving everything about the club and the staff showed his conviction that his decision was correct.

No replacement. Yet.

Anwar wished Rafizi "all the best", saying that he had "carried out his duties admirably" as economy minister, as reported by the Malay Mail on Jun. 16.

Speculation in Malaysia has been that the ministry will be disbanded after Rafizi's resignation.

Anwar denied this and was quoted by the Malay Mail as saying that a new minister would be appointed "at the appropriate time".

Anwar said that the ministry had originated as the Economic Planning Unit under the Prime Minister's Office but had been spun off into the Economy Ministry.

As for Nik Nazmi, Anwar said that he had given him "space" to reflect on his decision, counselling against following through on his resignation.

Top image via Nik Nazmi/Facebook & Rafizi Ramli/Facebook