Rafizi Ramli, who lost to Nurul Izzah in the recent deputy presidency election, revealed that she had proposed creating an appointed deputy president’s post for him in a private meeting before party delegates voted.

Appointed posts of deputy president are rare and not practised by major parties, including Umno. However, some vice-president’s positions have been appointed.

Rafizi rejected the offer and has since resigned as the economy minister.

James Chin of the University of Tasmania said the proposal made little sense from a democratic standpoint, and it was right of Rafizi to dismiss it.

“You can’t have a non-elected deputy president because you have no legitimacy,” he told FMT.

“If you want to have a second deputy president’s post, of course, it’s up to the party to decide, but it should be based on votes by the delegates.”

Syaza Shukri of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) said the success of a two-deputy model would depend entirely on whether both deputies were willing to work together, something she views as unlikely in this context.

“If the deputies try to one-up each other, their loyal supporters will act the same way. That won’t solve the factionalism in PKR,” she said.

Syaza said it was possible to make the structure work if roles were clearly divided between political and organisational responsibilities, but warned that the idea seemed purely symbolic.

“For now, it appears to be a political effort (by Nurul Izzah) to bring back PKR from the anger and disappointment of Rafizi’s camp and followers.

“People can see through this attempt, and honestly, Rafizi has the upper hand.”

Rafizi has said he will return to serve as a backbencher and head of PKR’s Pandan division.

He previously claimed that Nurul Izzah had made a last-ditch appeal to help her after the party polls, worried the new leadership lineup could spell trouble for her father, party president and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.