SEREMBAN: PKR division leaders who are supporters of Zaid Ibrahim have urged him to reconsider his decision to quit his party posts.
A division leader from Negri Sembilan told FMT he was sad that Zaid made his decision without consulting his supporters.
"It’s okay with us that he withdrew from the contest for deputy president as that would send a strong message to the leadership that the election process needs to be overhauled,” he said.
"But he should not just abandon us like that. Leaders of several divisions, like me, put in a lot of effort to convince the grassroots to vote for him.”
He said he supported Zaid’s allegation of fraud in the party polls. “But,” he added, “the fight for reform within the party must go on, and this cannot be done without holding an important position in the party.
"How do division leaders who are not in the supreme council fight for reform if people like Zaid are also outside the council?”
With Zaid out of the council, he added, the road would be open for Azmin Ali’s camp to go on a witch hunt for division leaders who have openly supported his rival.
He said he could assure Zaid that he and other sympathetic division leaders would gather more grassroots support for him for the next party election, due three years from now.
'Tremendous pressure'
A division leader in another state said Zaid’s resignation had raised the hurdle against efforts to improve democracy in the party.
"How we going to do it here at division level when our captain has left us?” he said.
He said he was facing "tremendous pressure” from the grassroots, with many asking him to explain Zaid’s decision and most making “harsh and sharp criticisms” against the former deputy presidential contender.
He declined to quote the critics, but said, “They feel that Zaid should keep his supreme council post to keep the fire burning. His decision gives a message to the grassroots that he is not a true fighter.”
A division Youth leader in Kedah said the fight was not over as far as he was concerned.
"I appeal to Zaid to reconsider his decision because the real fight has just started and it is not proper to back off without having struggled to the maximum,” he said.
"There are three years before the next party election. A lot of homework and networking can be done in this period.”
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