He said the decision was based on past experience, where party elections triggered fierce contests for top posts, throwing the party into disarray.
The plan was to hold party elections after the next general election (GE16), with a second term secured for party president Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister.
However, the decision was reversed on the grounds that party elections were needed to bring in “new talent” such as R Ramanan and Kamil Munim.
Speaking at a campaign event in Terengganu last night, Rafizi said party leaders had initially wanted to focus on the people’s needs and on governance instead of party elections.
“Our performance is good, the rakyat is starting to be more open to us, and there are signs we’re making headway with Malay voters. So why take the risk and hold party elections?” he said.
He said the plan was to win GE16, secure a second term for Anwar, and then amend the party constitution to allow elections six months after each general election, a model which he said is practised in many other countries.
“This is normal. Other countries do it too.”
He said political parties in other countries do not hold internal elections halfway through a government term.
However, the decision was reversed, on the grounds that party elections were needed to bring in new talent. He specifically named Ramanan, who is eyeing a vice-president post, and Kamil, who has won the PKR Youth chief post uncontested.
“The reason given was that if we delay until 2027, Kamil would be over 35 and ineligible to contest in the youth wing,” he said.
Rafizi said the reversal has opened the floodgates to opportunism and sparked the current internal turbulence.
“If we had stuck with the original decision and not entertained these two or three so-called new talent who are so eager to jump in, we wouldn’t have ‘HIRUK’ and ‘DAMAI’,” he said, referring to the rival camps led by him and Nurul Izzah Anwar in the race for the deputy presidency.
Last year, it was reported that discussions had taken place at a central leadership meeting on the possibility of delaying party elections until after the general election.
However, PKR secretary-general Fuziah Salleh clarified that no final decision was reached during those discussions.
PKR members will vote for the party’s central leadership next Friday.