PETALING JAYA: The official launch of Kita (People’s Welfare Party), the country’s newest political party is less than a week away and Zaid Ibrahim, its chief, is bent on shedding all vestiges of his former party PKR that could shadow Kita’s limelight.
The former PKR supreme council member and FT chief walked out on party last November after accusing it of election fraud and malpractice.
Soon after, he took over Angkatan Keadilan Insan Malaysia (AKIM) and renamed it Kita which will be launched on Jan 19.
In his blog posting today, Zaid pinpointed what he viewed as PKR’s four main flaws while outlining the difference in Kita’s approach.
The first touched on the issue of responsibility to the people when responding to policies put forth by the ruling government.
“We will not simply oppose these suggestions or policies just for the sake of doing so,” he pledged.
“We will be constructive, critical and focused on issues that are of the rakyat’s interest. We will not dwell on the personal lives of leaders and issues that have no substantial nor factual basis.”
His second pledge was that Kita would persist in its pursuit of noble objectives that are deemed to be in the country’s best interest.
“For example, we will press for the effective and widespread usage of the English language,” said Zaid.
“We would like Bumiputeras to be proficient in the language as an advantage in the quest for knowledge.”
“Anwar Ibrahim will not articulate this for fear of losing his supporters, but Kita will not withdraw from this position because it is important for our nation.”
Subtle dig at Anwar
The third difference, according to Zaid, would be Kita’s avoidance of making baseless promises when it concerned giving freebies to the rakyat.
“There’s no such thing as a free lunch, especially in the world of finance. Public facilities have to be funded by other parties or sources.
“There will be no misguided impressions. We will state as clearly as possible what financial resources will be needed,” said Zaid.
The final distinction between the two parties appeared to be a subtle dig at PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim whom Zaid locked horns with during the PKR elections.
“Kita will not praise nor flatter anyone’s ego,” he said. “Kita does not want to be politically aggressive, nor do we want to constantly adopt a siege mentality. We want to cultivate a healthy, dialogue and consensus-based political culture.”
Zaid also dismissed doubts of Kita’s ability to gain support and its staying power by throwing a question back at it critics.
“If this is indeed the fate of Kita, then why the outrage about Kita’s threat to Pakatan’s chances in the general election?” he asked.
“Why worry if Kita is said to have a short life span and very few followers?
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