Rafizi's 'candidate hunt' set to trigger another rebellion in PKR amid concerns of data harvesting

A new online campaign described by PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli as a "political innovation" is set to trigger a fresh rebellion in the party at a critical juncture, with insiders warning that this time the impact will be felt more than the 2020 exodus of MPs which saw it ejected from power.

At least a dozen PKR branch chairmen as well as current assemblymen expressed shock at the recent announcement by Rafizi to invite members of the public to pitch themselves as candidates for the 15th general election (GE15), with many saying it showed his ignorance about the cascading nature of power and influence in a political party "from the local to the federal level".

Some also played down the campaign, describing the move as a ploy for "some other goal".

"Of course it is political innovation," said one senior member of a branch in Petaling Jaya who spoke to MalaysiaNow in exchange for anonymity over fears of reprisal from the central leadership.

"It's a very clever innovation, not only to increase membership by baiting them with candidacy, but also to fish for tonnes of invaluable personal data," he said.

A branch chairman in Klang agreed.

"It's no surprise. This is not the first campaign by Rafizi to collect data from the public. He is concurrently behind many other similar websites for various pretexts, whether for election or flood volunteer drives," he said.

No data protection assurance

Last Thursday, Rafizi introduced a new website, calonkeadilan.org, where anyone from the public could nominate themselves to represent PKR at the next polls.

Individuals are asked to provide extensive personal data, including their occupation and income, academic qualifications, Facebook account, family members' particulars and even bank details such as current loans and account numbers.

There is no assurance from the site that the data will not be resold for commercial or other purposes, or if it is protected under the Personal Data Protection Act.

Applicants, in this case nominees, need only fulfil the usual conditions to become an election candidate in Malaysia, with the added requirement that they are registered as PKR members.

This is despite the fact that the Election Commission allows non-members to contest under party banners.

The move has been met with mixed reactions on social media, with some making sarcastic posts and others saying they are ready to nominate themselves. 

"I will register as Keadilan member this Tuesday 11th October 2022 at 1pm (during lunch hour) at Keadilan HQ.

"I will then proceed to apply at calonkeadilan.org," said a Twitter post from Dr Noraishah Mydin Abd Aziz.

Rafizi, who is PKR's election director, said he expects some 10,000 applications from those eager to become candidates, each of which he says will be assessed by him and party president Anwar Ibrahim.

The duo will shortlist five applicants for each constituency based on their "social standing" and "social media influence".

Recipe for another split?

While many branch leaders dismiss Rafizi's latest campaign as impossible to implement, others have expressed anger that the former Pandan MP was allowed to "bulldoze through his unworkable strategies in spite of past failures".

"No party works this way, and for Rafizi to do this could be interpreted as a deliberate move to sideline Anwar and party veterans in matters of candidates.

"If indeed this new system is implemented, it could backfire quite badly for the party," said a veteran member in Pasir Gudang, Johor, who when told about the plan, said he had never heard of it.

He said a political party's strength is measured by the support it enjoys at the local level.

"And this is how the parliamentary institution operates, where people are represented by constituencies through organic political activity. Not through some campaign riding on digitally-acquired data." 

Rafizi, the brain behind the failed Kajang Move devised by PKR in 2014 to install Anwar as the Selangor menteri besar, has always branded himself as guided by data.

In August, he said that the party would rely on data before setting its focus on any state at the coming polls.

Yet in 2018, Rafizi, relying on his data analytics firm Invoke, famously predicted that PAS would not win a single seat in the general election that year. The Islamist party went on to win 18 federal seats, sweeping the votes in Malay heartlands, maintaining its hold on Kelantan and taking Terengganu.

Only three of five PKR MPs whom MalaysiaNow contacted agreed to respond, all under condition of anonymity.

One of them, an MP in Selangor, said the plan was a "sure recipe for disaster".

"GE15 is around the corner and we should not fiddle with these experiments at the cost of party unity. 

"This latest plan by Raifizi will only lead to another crisis like we had in 2020. There will be a rebellion not only from the incumbents but also the rank and file including those who built this party from the beginning and who are not pitching as candidates," the MP said. 

Another MP said anyone who nominates themselves to stand as candidates should be the "last person for the job".

"In the end, Rafizi will only succeed in signing up people who are in the party just to become candidates."