Time to quit, Zaid told

Growing internal dissent against Kita chief culminates in a call for his resignation.

PETALING JAYA: The rising internal dissent against Kita chief, Zaid Ibrahim, has peaked with a top leadership member calling for his resignation today.

Central executive committee member, Zahrein Zahari, said that Zaid’s recent actions were in clear violation of the party principle and warranted his stepping down as party chief.

Over the past week Zaid’s reputation has slowly been torn apart as unhappy members have publicly flayed him for his alleged high-handedness, contempt for protocol and rash decisions.

The sudden strife within a party that is three months shy of its first anniversary has taken many by surprise but Zahrein clarified in a press statement that talk of “internal bickering” were untrue.

“There is no bickering in Kita,” he said. “There are only those who decided to go against the principle which the party builds upon, and this includes Zaid.”

Zahrein explained that party members, especially the youth had joined Kita for its “fearless stand” against authoritarianism, promotion of grassroots democracy and an internal structure where decisions are made from the bottom-up.

He pointed out that a democratic party should give room for dissent to be heard and debated as no leader is infallible be it Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim or Zaid himself.

“We in Kita believe in building criticism, and we strongly advocate freedom of speech,” Zahrein said. “I’m very sure Zaid has no problem swallowing this medicine with a pinch of salt.”

“Zaid may have started Kita but we gave spirit to it. He doesn’t own Kita and Kita is not Zaid. Kita was built upon the same spirit in which Zaid walked out from PKR – a smack on their face and a fine reminder for us.”

Old must make way for the new

Zahrein then took a dig at Zaid by stating that when the old get “nyanyuk or nyanyu” (senile), it is only right for the young to take the lead.

He went on to urge young Malaysians to show the “old hard-headed” politicians how things should be done the right way and that this process should begin with Zaid.

He also called for an Emergency General Meeting to be held and for Zaid to step down as party chief as he no longer enjoyed their confidence.

“We are proud of Zaid and we respect him very much for the same qualities of fearless outspokenness that (fourth premier) Dr Mahathir used to charm us with,” he said.

“But when the old has got to go it has to go. Zaid should step down with style like (fifth prime minister) Abdullah Badawi.”

In taking the reins to establish a new and younger leadership for the party, Zahrein further spurred them to band together in efforts to “build a nation and see the party through these trying times”.

“Let’s form the best opposition Malaysia has ever seen,” he urged. “It is obvious that apart from opposing the Umno regime, we could be opposing Anwar and his cartel next.”

“We can’t expect contractor-minded politicians whom are backed by big fat companies to be credible opposition, they would be too busy eating, playing, and drinking.”