PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli has planned to establish a micro financing cooperative to entice party members in Sabah to support his bid to capture the party’s number two post. 

He said the cooperative is a two-pronged approach for PKR in Sabah, not only to help poor members but also win new voters in the state. 

The party’s deputy president candidate said it will not only help further strengthen PKR’s position in Sabah but Pakatan Harapan’s, which needs more than just one term to fulfill its reform agenda. 

“We realised most of the PKR members are self employed and poor, especially in Sabah. Many come from low socio-economic standing compared to the other states. 

“The cooperative could assist them to obtain micro-loans to start business as well as entice many Sabah voters and maybe help Pakatan Harapan win again and capture areas yet to be captured by PKR,” he told reporters in Sandakan today. 

Rafizi is in Sabah as part of his “Reformasi 20 tahun” campaign, where he will also visit Tawau and Kota Kinabalu. 

When asked about Anwar Ibrahim being prime minister-in-waiting, he said the work to develop Sabah must begin now as the party has a strong footing in the state before the PKR president takes over from Dr Mahathir Mohamad. 

“When Anwar becomes prime minister, PKR must already be on solid footing in Sabah. He needs to focus on economic matters as well as getting more investments into the state. Among others, the president also need to look into giving back Sabah’s autonomy,” he said. 

Rafizi said Sabah will definitely be a prime focus for Anwar as its PKR members is ranked second strongest in the country after Selangor. 

Rafizi added that he had no interest in federal posts or other roles in Putrajaya, saying his priorities right now is to ensure reforms materialised. – August 18, 2018.