UPDATED KUALA LUMPUR: Zaid Ibrahim's exit from PKR would not affect the opposition party's chances in the next general election, said constitutional expert Prof Abdul Aziz Bari.
Speaking to FMT after a closed-door PKR Youth meet last week, the academic described Zaid's possible departure as not a major issue.
"Onn Jaafar was the founder of Umno and was regarded as a hero at that point of time. But when he quit Umno and formed Parti Negara, he did not have any major impact on Umno. In fact, Umno became stronger after that.
"Another example is when Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah quit Umno and formed Semangat 46. That did not have any significant impact on Umno and eventually Razaleigh's party collapsed,” he said.
Based on these examples and his own analysis, Abdul Aziz felt that Zaid's exit would not weaken PKR, but could probably have the reverse effect instead.
'Shortcomings in polls unavoidable'
The professor also defended the accusation-ridden PKR elections, saying that problems were bound to arise during the first attempt.
"To be fair, the party election which is open to every single member is a first in the attempt to install greater democracy.
"Since this is the first time such an election is held in a large-scale manner, weaknesses are bound to be there. We must give the party more time. I believe the leadership will rectify the shortcomings and weaknesses in future,” he added.
Zaid, who was running for the deputy presidency, had pulled out from the race after accusing his rival Azmin Ali of fraud, and the leadership of turning a blind eye to this.
On Anwar Ibrahim's role as party supremo (ketua umum), Abdul Aziz said this was not a major problem as long as the majority of PKR members agreed and supported the opposition leader.
"If that role involved the administration of the country, then it is not proper. As a national leader he must be elected by the people. But here Anwar was elected unamiously as ketua umum during the PKR national congress in 2004,” he added.
Before the 2004 congress, many division leaders had proposed that Anwar contest for the post of president but he was barred from doing so by the Registrar of Socities due to his conviction and imprisonment.
In view of this, delegates attending the congress agreed to the creation of the ketua umum post.
Anwar says Zaid can go
Meanwhile, in PENANG, Anwar said that Zaid was free to leave PKR and do whatever he wanted to do, including forming his own party.
He added that Zaid would find it easy to form his own party as the BN government will be making no fuss in approving one for the former minister.
He also hit out at Zaid for causing a rift in the party. He indicated that the party had given Zaid chance after chance in leadership positions.
“We made him the Hulu Selangor candidate despite objections from the local leaders.
“When he lost in Hulu Selangor, we gave him a chance to lead Federal Territories PKR,” he added.
Anwar also said that the party had never appointed Zaid to be the Pakatan Rakyat coordinator, a label which had been used to describe Zaid who was involved in formulating Pakatan's common policy.
“We have checked the minutes of our meetings and we can't find any record of making such an appointment,” Anwar said as he lashed out at Zaid just as the latter has decided to quit the party.
Zaid is expected to respond to Anwar's claims and his immediate future plans at a press conference tomorrow
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