Zaid’s not my ‘golden boy’, says Anwar

By FMT Staff

KUALA LUMPUR: PKR de factor leader Anwar Ibrahim has dismissed claims that party supreme council member Zaid Ibrahim was given preferential treatment with his recent appointment as Federal Territories PKR chairman.

He denied that Zaid was his “golden boy” and had usurped other more senior PKR officials for the coveted position.

Said Anwar: “This is a PKR issue… there are some top leaders who have not been assigned to specific responsibilities. We have now assigned them.

“There are now leaders overseeing Penang, the Federal Territories and Selangor. The appointments are not linked to anything in particular.”

He was speaking at Pakatan Rakyat’s media session in Parliament yesterday. Also present were DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.

Pressed further by reporters, Hadi interjected with a quip: “What’s the fuss... even Umno Youth chief is not in the Cabinet.”

Following PKR’s weekend retreat, several party leaders were assigned to specific responsibilities. Among them were Zaid who was made responsible for the Federal Territories and Mohamad Azmin Ali to helm and secure Pakatan fortress, Selangor.

Umno has used the appointments to imply unrest within the party leadership, with former Selangor Menteri Besar Khir Toyo saying that having his successor Khalid Ibrahim as state administrative head, Azmin as Selangor’s PKR chief and Anwar as Selangor economic adviser was one leader too many.

'Umno is worried'

On Umno’s latest attempt to stir “trouble” with the Malay and non-Malay voter registration ratio, Hadi said: ‘The EC (Election Commission) is trying to ensure Umno’s political agenda, which is to remain in power after the 13th general election.”

He reasoned that it was obvious that the EC is purposely allowing the ratio of voter registration reportedly at 1:40 in favour of non-Malays to perpetuate.

“The EC is doing this on purpose because it doesn't want to institute an automatic registration process. This is clearly in support of Umno’s political agenda to remain in power.

“Umno is worried that it will lose power. It is afraid that the voters Malays and others will back a new force, which is Pakatan,” he said.

Hadi was commenting on a Berita Harian report on Monday which quoted Umno Youth’s membership registration chairman Hishamudin Yahya as saying that the ratio of Malay to non-Malay registered voters was 1:40.

Hishamudin said the scenario should awaken the Malays to the fact that their political power would be lost and destroyed if they continued to avoid registering as voters or abstaining from voting in the next election.