Kita goes to ground to sniff out likely leaders

Zaid said Kita would not cater to those who were solely concerned about gaining positions. — file pic

PETALING JAYA, Feb 6 — Malaysian Social Welfare Party (Kita) president Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has said the party will use social welfare activities to identify potential grassroots leaders while reaching out to the community.

He told The Malaysian Insider it was important for the party to recognise “caring” members who were able to organise community events, adding that he was not interested in those only seeking office.

“These activities help to identify the grassroots leaders who are caring... so that’s why we want to do this first,” Zaid said after giving away Chinese New Year treats to some 50 senior citizens at the Seri Setia old folks home here today.

He said such charitable events also helped Kita attract “genuine support”, which was necessary for the party in the long term.

The former PKR Federal Territories chief added that Kita will hold political talks at some later point, after it is more organised.

“Every area must have good people... once we have good people then we do ceramah easily,” he said.

Zaid had earlier doled out Chinese New Year goodies at the Praise Emmanuel Children’s Home (PECH) for underprivileged children here.

Kita was launched last month with much fanfare by Zaid, who promised the party would bring political transformation to Malaysia and revive the spirit of Merdeka as envisioned by the nation’s founding father, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman.

The former Cabinet member had left Umno to join PKR and was touted by the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) as a reformist.

But political differences led to Zaid quitting PKR to form his own party. He is now seen by PR as a potential spoiler in its rivalry with Barisan Nasional (BN).

Zaid who now heads Kita, a rebranding of Kelantan-based Malaysian People’s Justice Front (Akim), pledged to use his new platform to restore national unity while leaving his political equivalents in BN and PR to their own machinations.

The maverick politician claimed that Kita would stay on the middle ground in politics and only pay attention to pertinent issues that plague the community, instead of engaging in heated political debates with its foes.