Pakatan leaders urge Anwar to take firm and swift action on Zaid

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim

Malaysia Chronicle

Pakatan Rakyat leaders have begun to urge Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to take action against his recalcitrant former FT chief Zaid Ibrahim, whose personal vengefulness towards him and lack of love for his PKR party have begun to create a web of negative publicity strong enough to harm their coalition.

"We do not know what is his motive but we can see the signs. Pakatan needs to beware of Trojan horses which are infuriated with their parties. It is most dangerous for us to sleep with the enemy but without us realizing the problem," Nga Kor Ming, DAP MP for Taiping told Malaysia Chronicle.

"Pakatan must clean up their party to regain the people's confidence if we are to maintain our momentum. This is the daunting task but there is no short cut."

Act swiftly

Despite pulling out of the PKR deputy presidential race when he was trailing badly and quitting his party posts, Zaid - who has been accused of being an Umno mole - has clung on to his membership. Although, he promised to keep a low profile, he reneged on his promise - not the first time that the Malaysian public has witnessed him doing since he began his move against Anwar.

On Wednesday, Zaid announced plans to go on a nationwide tour to inform the various PKR divisions about his stand, although it is clear his real intention may be to further attack Anwar for reasons better known to himself. PKR and Pakatan leaders are themselves not too worried about Zaid's tour but more concerned about the security aspect to their coalition.

Zaid unable to beat Azmin for the No. 2 post

Already, there have been calls from Umno leaders for Zaid to return to their party, which is benefiting from the negative publicity created by Zaid and his advisers.

"Infighting is ever present in any political party. But we believe that the current PKR leadership has the wisdom to resolve the issue as quickly as possible using all steps available to them including tough action. At the end of the day, Pakatan's image will be marred even though the impact may not be long-lasting because it is normal for leaders to come and go," Mahfuz Omar, PAS vice president told Malaysia Chronicle.

"Definitely, what is happening in PKR is affecting the rakyat's confidence in Pakatan. To them, it doesn't matter who is right or wrong. As politicians, we owe our allegiance and loyalty to the party and it is taboo to wash dirty linen in public. Whatever differences we have amongst ourselves and shortcomings of the party, we must strive to correct it within the party," PAS MP for Kota Raja Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud told Malaysia Chronicle.

More disgrace in store

Indeed, it looks like further disgrace may befall Zaid, who was a prominent Umno lawyer. Ironically, earlier this year, he had led the charge to sack ex-PKR MP for Kulim Bandar Bharu Zulkifli Noordin for indiscipline. He publicly grilled Anwar for not taking a firmer hand with Zulkifli and beseeched him to act swiftly.

Umno-friendly Konsensus Bebas, Zulkifli on the right

"It looks like his turn has come. As they say, what goes around comes around. If Zul had ulterior motives for destroying PKR earlier this year, the latest attacks from Zaid are 10 times worse. But the real loser is not PKR or Pakatan. They will just carry on because this is the nature of politics - ever up and down," PKR veteran Eddie Wong told Malaysia Chronicle.

"But not Zaid, whether it is him personally or his sycophant advisers who led him to disaster. Too much has happened for him to be able to deny responsibility. His downfall is so shocking, frankly, we can only watch with horror."

Read also:
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Anwar must stand firm as Zaid and group tries to rock PKR...

Malaysia Chronicle appends below the reactions to the Zaid Ibrahim blowup sourced from various media

Ong Kian Ming, political analyst USCI University

Zaid started his campaign by attacking Anwar. He also kicked off his campaigning on the basis that he would lose. So it was quite a consistent trend - his campaign was a negative one.

His strategy in trying to get pockets of support was right, but his execution was terrible. He could have run a more positive campaign and attract more non-Malay leaders. Instead he alienated a lot of people, including 'whacking' (deputy president) Syed Husin Ali.

This will definitely not be the last we see of him. It looks likely that he will form a third-force party. But one thing is for sure, even if he forms it with his supporters like Haris Ibrahim or Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, Zaid will eventually alienate them. He will continue to fire at PKR. That man is not easily controlled. He is a loose cannon.

PKR is down but not out. If he leaves, it is not just good for PKR but Pakatan as a whole. Everyone can move on, assuming that he doesn't create more problems. With the way Zaid is going, nobody is spared from his wrath.

James Chin, political analyst Monash University

There will not be long-term damage. PKR has a lot of young capable people. The ones creating problems are the older generation. It will affect the credibility among the middle class. But the fallout will be limited.

Jonson Chong, ex-PKR communications chief

We should all cool off for a while. I spoke to (party president) Wan Azizah Wan Ismail yesterday. I suggested to her that there is no point crying over spilt milk, or pointing fingers over who spilt the milk. The milk has been spilt and what's important is how to fix this. Politicking and infighting is not what we need now.