PETALING JAYA: A PKR leader has rubbished a news report claiming that Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who is vying for the deputy presidency at the party polls, has been advised to drop out of the race.
“No such directive has been given to anyone, including Saifuddin,” the highly placed source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told FMT.
The source was responding to an article on Sin Chew Daily which also quoted a source as saying that Saifuddin had been advised to step aside and make way for Nurul Izzah Anwar.
The deputy president’s post is currently held by Rafizi Ramli. Rafizi has announced that he will be defending the post he was elected to after defeating Saifuddin with a landslide majority of 16,668 votes in 2022.
According to Sin Chew, however, Rafizi has yet to nominate himself to defend his post.
On Tuesday, FMT quoted another well-placed source within the party who said that Nurul Izzah’s candidacy was a “done deal”.
The former Permatang Pauh MP, who is the daughter of PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, has yet to confirm whether she will contest the post.
However, several PKR leaders, including the party’s youth chief Adam Adli and outspoken Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim, have backed Nurul Izzah for the role.
Yesterday, FMT quoted party leaders as saying that a showdown between Rafizi and Nurul Izzah for the second highest spot in PKR could leave the ruling party more fractured than fortified.
