SAIFUDDIN Nasution Ismail has dismissed Rafizi Ramli for taking credit for his appointment as Lim Guan Eng’s strategic adviser when he was Penang chief minister in 2017.

The PKR secretary-general also rejected claims made by Rafizi that the latter had lent him a hand as he was “jobless” at the time.

“I am not sure what working paper Rafizi was referring to that gave me a position in Penang.

“From what I remember, he never had a good relationship with Lim, let alone propose my appointment as an adviser to the Penang government,” he said in a statement today.

“The position of adviser was more for strategic reasons and had nothing to do with Rafizi wanting to ‘help’ his friend who was ‘jobless’ after losing in the general election.”

Both Saifuddin and Rafizi are in the running for the PKR deputy president’s post in the coming party polls.

Yesterday, Rafizi had spoken of the sacrifices he had put in to help “jobless” fellow party member Saifuddin after the latter lost in the 2013 general election.

According to the former Pandan MP, he made possible Saifuddin’s appointment as PKR secretary-general, and drafted a working paper for the latter’s appointment as Penang state government strategic adviser.

Saifuddin, however, today said that Lim, with whom he had always maintained a close relationship, was the one who invited him to become adviser to the state government. 

Regarding his party secretary-general appointment, Saifuddin said then-party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail made the decision in 2016 in order to fill in for Rafizi who was battling a defamation suit filed by National Feedlot Corp.

Saifuddin also said he did not wish to prolong the argument with Rafizi and would always view the PKR deputy president post contender as a “comrade-in-arms”.

“After the PKR election, let us both work together to prepare the party to face the general election with the goal of winning.”

The PKR elections will be held from May 13 to 18. – April 24, 2022.