Anwar and his daughter now have to get their hands dirty to restore PKR's shine

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's daughter Nurul Izzah is now Parti Keadilan Rakyat's (PKR) deputy president, setting her up as the heir apparent to Malaysia's leader.

- Shannon Teoh

JOHOR BAHRU -

But what exactly will she be inheriting? There is no guarantee that she will receive the broad consensus from other parties to become a candidate for Malaysia's prime ministership in today's hyper-competitive political landscape.

As for PKR, while there have been more brutal leadership contests, few can compare with how damaging the campaign was to the ruling party leading up to its May 23 vote.

In essence, outgoing deputy Rafizi Ramli has accused figures aligned to Datuk Seri Anwar of duplicity and electoral fraud, while claiming that the new leaders rising in the party who supported the Nurul campaign — including newly installed vice-president Ramanan Ramakrishnan — are unsavoury characters who will torpedo PKR's reformist agenda.

"I am known both in and outside the party as being uncomfortable with several groups... who do not represent political reforms championed by PKR. Their methods revolve around money and enthusiasm for positions, as opposed to the promises of reform," he said in his latest volley on balloting day itself before his eventual defeat.

Ms Nurul also made the strange claim at the 11th hour that she offered herself as deputy president only because she believed her "friend forever" Rafizi was dropping out, and she did not want to see a vacuum for such a high office in the party.