Mazlan Ali of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Sabah’s Syahruddin Awang Ahmad said PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli’s proposal would prevent younger Malaysians from using the party as a platform to bring meaningful change to the country.
They said the proposal could result in stagnation within PKR’s leadership, hindering the party’s ability to cultivate and advance fresh, talented leaders.
“Rafizi’s idea could kill off PKR and prevent it from having a dynamic leadership in the future,” Mazlan told FMT.
Syahruddin said the proposed requirement would indirectly hinder the entry of fresh talent capable of bringing new ideas and perspectives to the party.
“This risks causing a sort of ‘brain drain’, with talented individuals choosing to join other parties that offer a faster path (to leadership), undermining PKR’s efforts to remain relevant and dynamic in the political landscape,” he said.
Rafizi had called for party rules to be amended to prevent candidates with less than five years’ standing from contesting for positions, saying the move would improve party discipline and ensure loyalty.
The PKR deputy president said the current system allowed newcomers to jump straight into leadership roles, sometimes with the approval of the party president, when they should “start from the bottom”.
Sungai Buloh MP R Ramanan, a former MIC treasurer-general, joined PKR in 2020 after quitting the Indian-based party six years earlier. Ramanan is vying for the post of vice-president at this year’s party polls, scheduled to be held on Friday.
Mazlan said a two-year period would be generally sufficient to determine if a member was loyal and committed to the party, adding that there was no need to be too restrictive.
He said the requirement could vary according to the seniority of the position in the party, with a five-year prohibition proposed for those gunning to be vice-president for example.
“For posts at the grassroots level, there shouldn’t be a requirement for a candidate to have been a member for five years. Maybe just a year or less to encourage the emergence of new leaders.
“But for the PKR president’s post, perhaps a 10-year membership requirement followed by seven years for the deputy presidency, and so on.”