Three Exits That Could Haunt Anwar

 

The departure of Rafizi Ramli, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and Wong Chen from PKR is more than an internal party dispute.

Taken together, their exits raise a larger question about Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s political future: could the erosion of reformist figures from his own political camp become one of the factors that ultimately undermines Pakatan Harapan (PH) at the 16th General Election?

The answer is not necessarily that Anwar will lose GE16 because three prominent politicians have left. Malaysian elections are rarely determined by personalities alone. But the departures expose a potentially more serious problem — the weakening of the reformist political constituency that helped bring Anwar to power.

Rafizi and Nik Nazmi announced their departure from PKR and vacated their parliamentary seats in May 2026, subsequently becoming associated with Parti Bersama Malaysia. Wong Chen followed by leaving PKR and vacating the Subang parliamentary seat in August, ending nearly two decades with the party and subsequently joining Bersama.

Individually, these departures are manageable. Collectively, however, they carry symbolic weight.

Rafizi represented a technocratic, data-driven and reform-oriented strand of Malaysian politics. Nik Nazmi represented a younger generation that had grown up within the Reformasi movement. Wong Chen, meanwhile, represented the liberal, institutional and multiracial face of PKR.

Their political trajectories were different, but their departures communicate a similar message: some figures associated with the original reform agenda no longer see PKR as the most effective vehicle for achieving it.

That is potentially damaging for Anwar because his political legitimacy has always rested on more than occupying the prime minister's office. His Reformasi legacy promised institutional reform, good governance, anti-corruption measures and a more inclusive Malaysia.

The danger is therefore not simply that Bersama will win dozens of parliamentary seats. It is that Rafizi, Nik Nazmi and Wong Chen could become alternative voices for disillusioned reform voters.

GE16 will almost certainly be fought on bread-and-butter concerns — the cost of living, wages, housing, employment, public services and economic opportunity. But elections are also contests over credibility. If voters who once regarded PH as the vehicle for political reform conclude that the coalition has become too pragmatic, too dependent on traditional political elites or too compromised by coalition politics, the opposition does not need to win those voters outright. It merely needs to convince them not to vote for PH.

This is where the departures become politically significant.

Anwar's governing coalition depends upon a delicate balance between PH and traditional political forces, particularly UMNO.

That arrangement gave Malaysia political stability after the fragmented 2022 election, but it also created a fundamental contradiction for Anwar: how can a government built on political compromise continue to present itself as the agent of political transformation?

Recent tensions surrounding Najib Razak's possible clemency illustrate the difficulty. PH has stressed that corruption convictions must be respected and sentences served, while UMNO figures have challenged what they perceive as double standards. Reuters reported that the issue has exposed tensions inside the governing coalition and created political risks for Anwar.

The three departures therefore should be viewed within this wider context.

Anwar's greatest challenge before GE16 may not be the opposition alone. It may be maintaining the political coalition that originally gave Reformasi its electoral momentum while simultaneously governing through compromises with its former political adversaries.

Yet it would be premature to conclude that these resignations signal Anwar's downfall.

Malaysia's electoral system is constituency-based, and personal popularity does not automatically translate into parliamentary victories. The next general election is not constitutionally due until early 2028, giving Anwar considerable time to repair political relationships, demonstrate economic results and consolidate PH's electoral machinery.

Moreover, Rafizi, Nik Nazmi and Wong Chen face their own challenge. Leaving PKR does not automatically create a viable national alternative. Bersama must demonstrate that it can build a nationwide organisation, attract credible candidates, secure financial resources and transform dissatisfaction into votes.

Nevertheless, Anwar should not dismiss their departures as merely personal political disagreements.

They represent a warning about political ownership of the Reformasi agenda.

If GE16 becomes a contest between Anwar's coalition and a fragmented collection of reformist and opposition alternatives, the prime minister could discover that losing a few prominent former colleagues matters less than losing the narrative that once made PH different.

The real question, therefore, is not whether Rafizi, Nik Nazmi and Wong Chen alone can bring down Anwar.

It is whether their departures are the beginning of a wider reformist exodus.

If they succeed in convincing young voters, urban middle-class voters and politically disillusioned Malaysians that Reformasi has been abandoned, their greatest impact may not be the number of parliamentary seats they win.

It may be the votes that Anwar's coalition fails to receive.

That could make GE16 considerably more difficult for Anwar — and transform three political departures into the early warning signs of a much larger electoral reckoning.

References

Free Malaysia Today. (2026, August 12). Wong Chen quits PKR to join Bersama.

Malaysiakini. (2026, May 18). Rafizi, Nik Nazmi's master move throws GE16 into new territory.

Reuters. (2026, May 17). Two ex-Malaysian ministers to vacate parliament seats and resign from Anwar's party.

Reuters. (2026, September 9). Malaysia PM's coalition says graft convicts should serve full terms amid reports of Najib clemency bid.

South China Morning Post. (2026, August 12). Veteran Malaysian MP Wong quits over 'toxic politics'.

The Edge Malaysia. (2026, August 10). PKR loses third parliamentary seat as Wong Chen vacates Subang.

The Economist Intelligence Unit. (2026). Malaysia: Political and economic outlook.

12.09.2026

Kuala Lumpur.

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