PUTRAJAYA — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has made clear there are no plans to reshuffle the Cabinet, saying the internal contest for posts in PKR has no bearing on the federal government.
“If you ask me, I have no plans to make any changes to the Cabinet,” he told reporters after a briefing session with editors-in-chief of local and international media at the Seri Perdana Complex tonight, Bernama reported.
Anwar, who is also PKR president, was responding to a question about Economy Minister Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli’s recent remarks indicating he would be prepared to relinquish his Cabinet post if he loses in the party’s upcoming election.
Rafizi, the incumbent PKR deputy president, is set to face a one-on-one contest for the position against Nurul Izzah Anwar.
The 2025 PKR National Congress will take place at the Persada International Convention Centre in Johor Bahru, beginning this Friday. Voting for the Central Leadership Council (MPP), youth wing Angkatan Muda Keadilan (AMK), and Wanita wing for the 2025–2028 term will be held from 8am to 5pm on the same day.
Anwar said the party contest should be seen as an opportunity to strengthen PKR through open competition among its members.
“The PKR election is a competition between our own friends, close associates and acquaintances. Therefore, there is no question of any change to the Cabinet.
“We cannot prevent other people’s ambitions (to resign or fill vacancies), he wants to vacate (post), he wants to fill… that is normal,” he said.
He added that the “heat” of the internal race does not reflect instability in the country.
“What is happening is the competition for the position is stable politics, there is competition… instability becomes a dictator with no contest… we have to look at it positively,” he said.
Earlier, Anwar spent over an hour in the closed-door briefing, which included questions from media practitioners on a range of current affairs, including the Asean Summit scheduled for this weekend.
Also in attendance were the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) CEO Datin Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin, Bernama editor-in-chief Arul Rajoo Durar Raj, and Bernama Economic News Service executive editor Saraswathi Muniappan. — May 21, 2025