PKR Deputy President Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli and Setiawangsa Member of Parliament Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad are free to determine their new political direction from now on.
Pakatan Harapan (PH) Secretary-General Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the move by the duo to announce their direction simultaneously at the PH 2026 Convention, this Sunday, is also not seen as an act of sabotage.
The Home Minister said this is because they are free to make any announcement based on the principle that Malaysia is a democratic country that guarantees freedom of speech, assembly and association.
"Rafizi and others are free to make any announcement because this country is a democratic one. We have guarantees of freedom of association, freedom of assembly and so on.
"Though the date of Rafizi's announcement coincides with the PH 2026 Convention, I don't see it as an attempt at sabotage or anything like that," he told a press conference today.
Saifuddin said the PH Secretariat had long planned to hold the convention as part of the initial preparations for the upcoming State Election (PRN).
He said PH would continue with the planned agenda, especially involving grassroots work in the state where the PRN is expected to take place.
"We have been planning this PH convention for a long time, and we have been discussing it for months.
"It will not be affected by just one announcement by Rafizi.
"So I wish my friend well if that is the beginning of the path he has chosen, while PH will continue to complete our matters," he said.
Yesterday, Rafizi, who is also the former Minister of Economy, described the announcement of his political direction with Nik Nazmi this Sunday as something extraordinary and not just an ordinary political announcement.
The Pandan MP reportedly said that the decision to hold the announcement publicly and invite the public to attend shows that it has its own significance. – May 15, 2026
