Sabah PKR information chief Razeef Rakimin said the launch breached party conventions because PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli should have been the one launching the machinery as the party’s election director.

Razeef claimed that Sabah division leaders were only informed of the event two to three days earlier, and that it was organised by the political bureau without consulting Sabah PKR.

“Although I am a member of the state leadership and also a division leader, I was in the dark about it. We did not even discuss it at the state level.

“When the poster for the event was out, I asked Sabah PKR chief (Mustapha Sakmud) whether the election director was informed because, traditionally, the person holding that post would launch the machinery.

“(Mustapha) informed me that the decision to invite Nurul Izzah and Amirudin was made by the political bureau.

“Even so, I feel it should have been discussed with the state leadership so that we can be on the same page,” he told FMT.

Last night, Rafizi said he refused to officiate PKR’s upcoming Youth and Wanita congress though they are traditionally opened by the deputy president.

He said his refusal stemmed from a breach of party protocol after the Sabah PKR election machinery was launched by Nurul Izzah and Amirudin, without prior discussion by the party’s political bureau or central leadership council.

Razeef said this situation had led to confusion among PKR’s grassroots in Sabah as well as fears of the perception that Sabah PKR was trying to sabotage Rafizi’s campaign to retain the party’s deputy presidency.

Rafizi is in a one-on-one contest with Nurul Izzah for the deputy presidency, which he won in the 2022 party elections. Nurul Izzah, who did not contest then, is an appointed party vice-president.