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Thursday, November 11, 2010

Zaid warns he will set up 'Keadilan Baru' if he is sacked


Beleaguered former Federal Territories PKR chairperson Zaid Ibrahim revealed that he would set up 'Keadilan Baru' should he be sacked from the party following his fall-out with party supremo Anwar Ibrahim and vice-president Azmin Ali.

Zaid said he was not about to pension himself off from party politics as his goal is to seek a long-term political transformation.

Leaving a situation which he was unhappy about was not something out of the ordinary for him, he added.

“I left Umno, I left my minister's post, I left my biggest law firm which brought me a lot of money,” he told the 100-odd participants who turned up at the party's Kedah Tengah service centre in Sungai Petani last night.

“I have sacrificed myself, I don't have to brag about it, because I have a long-term political agenda,” he added.

“They said I back down too easily but if there are obstacles in my way, I will back down but it does not mean I will quit.”

Zaid was responding to a question from Baling division chief Lim Chong An who asked if he had expected to be sacked from the party after washing its dirty linen in public.

Lim had expressed regret that Zaid had withdrawn from the No 2 race and quit all party posts and urged the latter to continue contributing to PKR.

Zaid, who arrived at the centre about 9.30pm despite suffering from a slight fever, spent about an hour fielding various questions from the floor, on what appeared to be the first leg of his road show to explain his actions to members.

He was rather pleased to see the crowd, hinting that they have braved the possibility of being termed “traitors to the party” for attending his session.

Like a child confused when parents fight

Meanwhile, Dr Zasmani Shafiee, a member who hails from Bayan Baru, said that she was confused about the current situation within the party, “Like a child is confused when parents are fighting”.

She said she was “shocked and sad” and had come all the way to hear Zaid's clarification on what had transpired within the party.

“We are here to see how we can help; we all have rights and we have a role to play in the party but at the same time, we are also not always clever,” she said.

“I love the party because of its basic foundation of fighting for justice; leaders come and go,” she added.

Zasmani asked whether it was the norm that “principled” leaders were prone not to be able to sustain their stay in the party, as politics is pure, only its practitioners were suspect.

She hinted that it was normal for members to criticise each other but it should not mean that we “should disown the other as we need him or her”.

Zasmani then queried whether there were efforts within the party to resolve the problem behind closed doors “without involving the children who are torn between two (sides) in the conflict”.

“If you want to contribute to the cause, why withdraw?” she asked point-blank.

Zaid replied that it was because he loved the party that he withdrew from contesting in the deputy presidential race, as winning or losing the post meant little to him.

He said if he had no love for the party, he would have just tried to obtain victory, and refrain from airing his views lest it be deemed unfavourable.

"But in politics we must have principles, they must be basic discourse on this... yes, criticising each other is normal, but now it is already in the open,” he said.

“I do not see Anwar as my father but as a leader; I respect him but if he is wrong, I will say so... if democracy means Azmin must win, I say this is hogwash,” he added.

Zaid admitted that he felt hurt at the personal attacks levelled against him which included calling him a “traitor, Trojan horse, conspirator (with Utusan Malaysia) and a quitter”.

“These are ways to ridicule me and destroy my reputation. They say only when I did not get something, I quit. When have I acted like this?” he queried.

“But that is the fundamental principle; those who want to remain in the party for 30 years without getting what they want, that is up to them; it is not that I am scared but I do not want to be part of a process that is tainted,” he added.

'Syed Husin never really liked me'

Batu Kawan women's wing chief Joyce Lee asked why senator Syed Husin Ali, the party's deputy president, seemed bent on criticising Zaid.

“You have to ask him why,” Zaid told Lee, but quickly added, “He never really liked me, I do not know why... he said I do not attend meetings but I was occupied with PAS and DAP.”

A participant, who claimed he was neither a supporter nor a member but an interested citizen who wanted to see change within the country, asked Zaid to prove his allegations that the party's elections were rigged if he really wanted to see change within the party.

The lawyer shot back by saying that members from several divisions have lodged about 160 complaints to the party's election committee headed by Dr Molly Cheah.

“How else do you want me to prove? The complaints were raised not only by me but other members,” he said.

“And why is the party's secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution speaking about the election, where is Molly Cheah? If the Election Commission does this during the general election, we will surely criticise them,” he added.

- Malaysiakini

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