KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 21 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak welcomed today the formation of Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (Kita) and said that the new political party showed that democracy in the country remains vibrant.
Kita was launched on Wednesday by Datuk Zaid Ibrahim 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.
Zaid (picture), a 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 recently to form his own party. He is now seen by PR as a potential spoiler in its rivalry with Barisan Nasional (BN).
Najib said today that he had no problems with Kita contesting the next general election.
“If there is a new political party, then it shows that democracy in this country is active and fresh.
“Anybody can form a new political party as long as it is in accordance with the law, then they stand during elections. There is no problem,” he told reporters at a press conference here.
He said it was not a problem for PPP president Datuk M. Kayveas to have attended Kita’s launching.
“It’s okay, we don’t fight with everybody. Sometimes we can be civil with one another,” he said.
Zaid, whose political career saw him leapfrog from Umno to PKR and now Kita, a rebranding of Kelantan-based 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.
Zaid had also said that Najib was the best person in Umno to lead the nation but was being held back by extremists within his own ranks.
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