Speaking to FMT, he said this was the reason he chose to join the Umno splinter party PPBM, instead of other Opposition parties.

“They have a leadership problem. PPBM can unite the Opposition and lead the way.

“There is no point in being an activist claiming to speak on behalf of the people when you don’t know how to lead.”

He said this was apparent in PKR which seemed to be stuck in its “Reformasi” time, instead of realising that what the voters really want is for their wellbeing to take centre stage.

To prove his point, Tariq referred to last week’s PKR-organised anti-1MDB roadshow in Sabak Bernam, which fell on the 18th anniversary of party leader Anwar Ibrahim’s sacking from his deputy premier post.

“One thing about that night which struck me most, is that PKR members are still using Anwar as their cause, which is fine as that is what made PKR.

“But to the general public, Anwar cannot be the cause any more.

“Reformasi was a 1990s thing and you can still chant ‘Reformasi’ all you want, but you need to evolve.”

This, he explained, is because PKR’s concept of “Reformasi” is more appealing to students, not those from the rural areas whose concerns revolve around bread-and-butter issues.

“We can have ceramah and all that, but we need to do more down-to-earth, one-on-one interactions.

“We need to tell them: ‘I’m here to lead you, but in order for me to lead you, I need to learn from you’.

“So they know when we become their representatives, we will table laws and policies that matter to them.”

Tariq on Wednesday revealed to FMT his plan to join PPBM.

This was in spite of the fact that his grandfather, Ismail, was a staunch member of Umno — the party PPBM aims to defeat in the coming general election with the help of Pakatan Harapan.