PETALING JAYA: A week after withdrawing from the deputy president's race, Zaid Ibrahim today said that he is ready to quit the party as he is “sick of its leaders”.
“I do not want to be associated with the awful and wrong things being done in the party so that the chosen ones are elected to the top posts.
“I hate to quit as I will be labelled as a quitter. I would rather (PKR de facto leader) Anwar (Ibrahim) sack me.
“But if they won't sack me, I will of course have to quit, soon,” he told FMT.
Zaid said that an official decision will be made just before the PKR national congress at the end of this month.
He is expected to take a short break “to be out of the limelight” now. He however ruled out the formation of a new party now.
It is believed that vice-president Azmin Ali's fresh criticism on Friday night played a factor in Zaid's decision.
Ruining the struggle
Speaking to his supporters at a ceramah in Shah Alam, Azmin said Zaid should not be allowed to “ruin the reformasi struggle”.
“Don't allow a new candidate who joined merely a year ago to try to ruin our struggle of 12 years,” he had said.
Without naming Zaid in his attacks, Azmin said a leader who had never been to street protests and not arrested would not “understand what reformasi means”.
“A certain someone who speaks of democracy and human rights was quiet in the first week of polls because he was leading... but subsequently when he crashed, I am being blamed,” he added.
Zaid also came underfire for giving interviews to Utusan Malaysia and TV3 and for not being a team player who likes to sulk – which are now becoming oft-heard criticisms levelled at him.
Cheating to win
Zaid however said that he was being attacked for pointing out the discrepancies in the ongoing party polls.
He added that it was evident that Anwar was campaigning for Azmin to be elected as the deputy president.
“And in order to achieve that, all forms of lies and cheats are being propagated. Electoral fraud is happening rampantly and all complains of such irregularities are brushed off,” he added.
“I just can't stand these lies and cheat. They are cheating to win. I am sick of these people. I have been highlighting these irregularities from the beginning, even when I was leading, not just when Azmin had overtaken me.
“I still think that in a free and fair election, the outcome of the deputy president's race would be very different,” he said.
Zaid, who was trailing Azmin narrowly after two weekends of voting, decided to pull out from the race last Monday, citing rampant and unchecked electoral fraud. He also resigned from all his party positions, including from being the Federal Territories chief.
He had also said that he would stay on in the party to ensure that reforms are implemented, and to strengthen Pakatan Rakyat.
However one week on, following continuous criticisms and personal attacks, Zaid finds himself to be further marginalised in the party.
Leading a civil society initiative
Many observers felt that Zaid would face disciplinary action for his public outbursts against Anwar and Azmin.
So far, the party has not initiated any action against him, though it is believed that they are comtemplating one following his series of interviews with the media in which he had attacked the party and its leaders.
There are also speculations that Zaid is ready to form his own party, or would lead a civil society initiative to form a Third Force in time for the next general election.
Later in his blog, Zaid once again expressed his intention to quit the party but said he has yet to submit any formal resignation letter. He added that he will reveal more via a press release this Friday.
Meanwhile, the third weekend of voting ended yesterday with Azmin taking a commanding lead over his sole rival Mustaffa Kamil Ayub for the deputy's post despite a low turnout. The voting at the final weekend next week will only rubberstamp his victory.
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