FORMER PKR Youth religious exco chief Ustaz Wan Ji Wan Hussin has questioned PKR’s political survival once Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim steps down.
He argues that the party has lost both its core ideological direction and its key operational strategy.
Speaking on PKR’s ongoing identity crisis during an interview on the Ibrahim Sani podcast, Wan Ji noted that grassroots members long operated under the assumption that achieving the prime ministership for Anwar was the primary goal of the Reformasi movement initiated in 1998.
“So, back to PKR, there is no strategy now because there is no Rafizi Ramli, and the ideology is gone,” Wan Ji said.
“We can now ask what the ideology of PKR is currently. Because this is something I discussed with two to three PKR leaders before this, before I left,” he added.
“This reformasi thing, don’t say it’s only a slogan. It’s about reforms, right? We, the people below, including me, assumed that the reformasi movement started in 1998 was to make sure Anwar became PM. We all believed that. Now that Anwar became PM, where is the reformasi?” Wan continued.
“You become PM already, but you yourself are in conflict with the reformasi movement that you created,” he pointed out.
With Anwar now in power, Wan Ji questioned whether genuine reform is being executed or if the leadership is acting in direct conflict with its founding principles, leaving current leaders merely focused on political survival.
Highlighting the party’s internal drain, Wan Ji pointed out the absence of key strategists like Rafizi Ramli, whom he credited as the driving force behind PKR’s analytical framework and public messaging.
While acknowledging past personal differences, Wan Ji commended Rafizi’s work ethic and ability to simplify complex policy matters for the masses.
Without figures combining high-level strategy and relentless dedication, Wan Ji warned that PKR risks irrelevance and could suffer a fate similar to historical splinter parties like Semangat 46 once Anwar’s tenure ends.—Oct 4, 2026
Main image: New Straits Times
