Zaid denies Rahimi link amid talk of press conference ruckus

Malaysia Chronicle

In a move seen as aimed at heading off suspicion that he is behind a group that disrupted a press conference called by a former aide of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, PKR FT chief Zaid Ibrahim has denied ever meeting the aide Rahimi Osman.

“There are lots of stories, including me being behind Rahimi’s revelations. I have never met Rahimi. The first time I saw him was on television yesterday,” Malaysian Insider reported Zaid as saying.

“I am a new member; my loyalty has not been tested; I am a traitor, a Trojan horse. These are all lies.”

Reneging of statutory declarations 3 years after signing

The 25-year Rahimi had a day ago called a press conference to announce that he was coerced by two PKR lawyers - Latheefa Koya and Saiful Izham Ramli - to sign two statutory declarations on June 28, 2008 that implicated Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor.

Latheefa, Sivarasa Rasiah, Saiful

Latheefa and Saiful have denied coercing Rahimi and will sue him for criminal defamation unless he retracted his statement.

But despite the sensationalism of Rahimi's accusation, it wasn't him who caused the greater negative publicity for Anwar and PKR on Wednesday - especially since Najib himself has already admitted to having met the sodomy complainant Saiful Bukhari Azlan a day before he lodged the police report Anwar.

Who are these so-called defenders of Anwar

The incident that created the greater confusion and chaos was a group of 6 men, who claimed to be PKR supporters. According to Malaysiakini, the group was led by K Sureshkumar and M Jayabalan. They created a ruckus and claimed to be "defending Anwar".

Zaid

"The talk in PKR is about this group. You see for Rahimi - who are the people behind his move will become clear soon enough. It can be those connected to Najib as well as to the PKR Trojan horses. This is why Umno plants moles in PKR in the first place," a party worker told Malaysia Chronicle.

"But at the moment, the focus of attention is about this rowdy group. How come they knew about Rahimi's intention? Who told them, how did they know about the press conference, what time and where it would be held. Why didn't they consult the party at all. It is so strange, why did they do what they did? This is where some of the allegations that Zaid mentioned have been made."

Zaid joined PKR in 2009 after leaving Umno. He was courted and personally welcomed by Anwar. But of late Zaid has been attacking PKR, his main rival for the deputy presidency Azmin Ali and even Anwar himself.

Many PKR members believe he and his cohorts may soon exit the party but perhaps after further commotion. Zaid's close associates in PKR include Jeffrey Kitingan, Soh Chee Wen, Loh Gwo Burne, S Manikavasagam and N Gobalakrishnan.