Rafizi to sue Sin Chew over claim he wished to be finance minister
(MMO) – PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli said today he will sue Sin Chew Daily for a report claiming he criticised Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s appointment on senior ministers because he wanted the finance minister post himself.
In a series of tweets on his account, Rafizi said if he had wished to be a minister, he would not have criticised Pakatan Harapan (PH) leadership, and would not have risked his political career with a prison term.
“I have stated since a year ago to @drwanazizah @anwaribrahim @n_izzah that I did not want any post in the government,” he posted, mentioning PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, its de facto leader Datuk Anwar Ibrahim, and fellow vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar.
Nurul Izzah had earlier today urged the former Pandan MP to accept the decision on the new Cabinet line-up.
“Sin Chew’s report was a slander and I will sue,” he added.
Rafizi insisted that his statement represented the whole party, and he has freedom to do so since he is not tied with any position in the government.
He later explained that the discussion over the portfolio division was held between Dr Mahathir, Dr Wan Azizah, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, and Parti Amanah Negara president Mohamad Sabu on Friday, but had not reached any conclusion.
He said PKR had requested for the discussion to include Anwar, but Dr Mahathir made the announcement without consulting the de facto PH leader, and had only met Anwar afterwards.
Rafizi also cautioned PH supporters against advising him to complaint about the issue internally or through appropriate channels rather than publicly.
Dr Mahathir said today that apart from the PH Presidential Council, the decision on the Cabinet also went through the five leaders — himself and the presidents of the four PH component parties
He said this was because it was difficult for the Presidential Council to meet regularly or immediately to decide on something.
Anwar had also said in a statement today that PKR fully backs Dr Mahathir’s leadership, but was concerned over the negotiation process.
