Rafizi Ramli Launches Parti Bersama Malaysia as Progressive Alternative

Former Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli has launched Parti Bersama Malaysia (Malaysian United Party), positioning the new organization as a progressive alternative to the administration of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Rafizi, a former strategist and deputy president of the People's Justice Party (PKR), split from the party in May 2025 after losing a leadership post to Anwar's daughter. He was joined in the launch by former minister Nik Nazmi bin Nik Ahmad.

The new party targets middle-class and educated Malays through a 12-point agenda that emphasizes wage growth, caps on migrant workers, and the transfer of oversight powers from the prime minister to parliament. Rafizi intends for the party to remain outside existing alliances to protect its reform goals, describing the effort as a long-term project. He suggested that progressive voters may eventually need to look beyond the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition, particularly if it underperforms in future elections.

Parti Bersama Malaysia aims to recruit 50,000 members by October and plans to contest 15 of 28 seats in the upcoming Malacca state election, as well as seats in the February 2028 general election. The political rift is further strained by personal tensions; Rafizi claims Anwar has failed to meaningfully investigate a syringe attack targeting Rafizi's son.