Two former Malaysian ministers quit Anwar’s party, join new faction

Malaysia’s ruling coalition took another hit when two of Anwar Ibrahim’s best-known reformist allies said they would quit Parti Keadilan Rakyat and vacate their seats, turning an internal party rupture into a broader test of parliamentary stability.

Rafizi Ramli, the former economy minister, and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, the former natural resources and environmental sustainability minister, said they would give up the Pandan and Setiawangsa seats and notify the Dewan Rakyat speaker. They also said they would formally write to the PKR secretary-general on Tuesday, May 19, to confirm their decision. Both men said they would leave PKR and join a new party they have taken over, Parti Bersama Malaysia, also known as the Malaysian United Party, or MU.

The resignations strip Anwar’s coalition of two high-profile MPs at once, and they do so from within the prime minister’s own reformist camp. Rafizi had long been one of the government’s most recognizable economic voices, while Nik Nazmi was closely associated with environmental and resource policy. Their departure is therefore more than a personal break: it removes two familiar names from the ruling bloc at a time when coalition discipline is already under strain.

Both politicians had already stepped down from cabinet in 2025 after losing internal PKR leadership positions. Rafizi’s defeat in the party elections, where he lost the deputy presidency to Nurul Izzah Anwar, deepened the factional split inside PKR and set the stage for the latest move. Their exit suggests that the battle inside the party was not contained by cabinet reshuffles and has now spilled into Parliament.

For Anwar, the immediate question is not only the symbolism of losing two former ministers, but whether this is the beginning of something larger. The government still has room to function, but every defection narrows the cushion it needs to pass legislation, hold together coalition partners and project authority ahead of any vote. Anwar himself has said a snap general election could be possible if cracks in the unity government widen, and he has planned talks with Pakatan Harapan leaders as those tensions build.

That backdrop matters because Malaysia’s next federal election is not due until 2028, yet lawmakers have already speculated that it could come as early as July 2026 to line up with state polls. Barisan Nasional, led by Umno, has also said it will contest all 56 seats in the upcoming Johor state election without Pakatan Harapan, a sign that coalition ties are fraying beyond PKR. Against that landscape, the resignations look less like a symbolic embarrassment and more like a warning that Anwar’s parliamentary base may face further erosion if the factional fighting continues.