Zaid: I will go to Sabah despite directive

(The Star) – Former Cabinet minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has said that he will be going to Sabah to attend a Hari Raya Aidilfitri event to meet PKR members.

He has also said that he had been told by Pakatan Rakyat leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim not to go but stopped short of saying why.

“I have already been invited. How can I not go?” he told reporters during a launch of his book, I, Too, Am Malay last night.

He also declined to comment how the directive was linked to reports of internal bickering in PKR, especially when it came to who would lead Sabah PKR.

It had been reported that Sabah PKR members had insisted that they would not accept any leader that PKR headquarters would “foist on them”.

Zaid also reiterated that he needed to take six months leave from PKR simply because it would take that long to compile the policies to make Pakatan Rakyat a consistent entity that could successfully merge the political stances of its three members – PKR, PAS and DAP.

He also refused to comment what he planned to accomplish in the six months.

His book was jointly launched with American correspondent Ioannis Gatsiousnis’ book Velvet and Cinder Blocks.

It was an English translation of his earlier book, Saya Pun Melayu.

Earlier, in a press conference at his house, Zaid, who left Umno for PKR, had announced that he was going on leave and would not be attending the party’s political bureau meetings.

He however denied that he was going on leave due to “internal issues” within PKR.