KUALA LUMPUR: As the battle for the PKR deputy presidency heats up, a litany of allegations have surfaced. The latest being a letter purportedly penned by Azmin Ali about Zaid Ibrahim.
Both Azmin, the current vice-president, and Zaid, a supreme council member, are the top contenders for the number two slot.
The letter, dated April 5 and addressed to Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, was regarding Zaid's candidacy for the Hulu Selangor by-election. Khalid was the campaign chief for the by-election.
It was published by the news portal Malaysia Today, which received it from an anonymous reader.
In the letter, whose subject matter read: 'Issues that can be raised by BN against Zaid Ibrahim', Azmin had cast aspersions on Zaid's elegibility to be fielded as a candidate.
In total, 32 reasons were cited ranging from moral grounds to being found guilty of money politics when he was still in Umno.
After Zaid was defeated in the Hulu Selangor election, allegations were rife that his campaign was sabotaged, with fingers pointed at Azmin. But this charge was denied.
Azmin, who is a close associate of PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim, is rumoured to be uncomfortable with Zaid's presence and meteoric rise in the party.
On the issue of morality, the letter had branded the former Umno MP and law minister as a "kaki minum" (alcoholic) and "gambler".
He was also accused of not having any religious foundation and the letter noted that he was once sued by PAS over the hudud law issue.
Apart from this, the letter also called him a "liar" and described him as a "vengeful" person. He was also said to be liberal in his views and lacked the Malay spirit.
"He wants an existing system to be replaced with his views even if it comes at the expense of the party. This is what caused him to be expelled from Umno.
"His priority are the rich while the poor are left aside. This can be seen from those around him, they are mostly rich people. Zaid hardly mixes around with normal people," read the letter.
Should he be picked, the letter warned, it would be a personal victory for Zaid and not a victory for the people.
"Due to the above reasons, any attempts to field Zaid as a candidate should be be examined in depth in terms of impact," read the letter, which was sent before nomination day on April 17.
'Why accept him in the first place?'
In the April 25 by-election, Zaid was defeated by Barisan Nasional's P Kamalanathan by a majority of 1,725 votes, in a contest which the PKR candidate claimed was rife with corruption.
Zaid had joined PKR in 2009 after he was sacked from Umno for not toeing the party line and for attending opposition functions.
He quit as law minister in September 2008 after disagreeing with the government's decision to arrest opposition leader Teresa Kok, blogger Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin and a Chinese daily journalist under the Internal Security Act.
Meanwhile, a PKR insider told FMT that the letter, if penned by Azmin, would confirm the latter's disgruntlement towards Zaid.
"The issues raised in the letter were from the time of Zaid's days in Umno. So why did they accept him into PKR amidst such fanfare and heaped praises on him in the first place?
"Why did Anwar welcome Zaid with open arms if there were such serious misgivings about him? Is this a case of 'use and discard'?" he asked.
Previously, Anwar, a former Umno deputy president himself, had described Zaid's entry into PKR as a positive development which would provide a boost for the party.
"Zaid has a reputation for fighting for human rights and for the independence of the judiciary," he had said.
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