Zaid argues his case, calls Anwar ‘phoney’
The former PKR leader’s reputation appears to be tatters after crossing swords with Anwar Ibrahim and quitting the party. He tells why he made the decision.
“Not once have I approached him to consider me as a candidate. It doesn’t make sense to contest in Hulu Selangor which has always been an Umno stronghold, except for the fluke year of 2008. Hulu Selangor is not a seat you would want to contest.”
Mariam Mokhtar, Free Malaysia Today
PKR has been dogged with the sodomy trial of its leader and seems unable to shake off the shady image presented by Anwar Ibrahim’s alleged sexual exploits.
To be fair, Malaysian politics is suffering from a surfeit of irrelevance. Basic issues of governance are neglected and in their place, lie subterfuge, sex and scandal.
Besides the sex video which had taken centre stage, there were fresh allegations about PKR’s funding and the problems raised by the possible eviction from the party’s headquarters for alleged non-payment of rent.
During a series of interviews with Anwar last week, journalists asked the opposition leader about the constant onslaught by a variety of critics, including Zaid Ibrahim, who was once a member of PKR. Zaid left after disagreements about an internal party election and then formed his own party, Kita.
In a recently taped interview, Zaid presented his version of the events, to counter the allegations made by Anwar. He wished to disassociate himself from the image of a bitter, betrayed person who bulldozed his way into PKR.
Zaid maintained that his vision had not altered and that his decision to enter politics for the good of the people, had not wavered. He still maintained that he was true to the principles of good governance and that the political process must be clean.
Rolls-Royce reward
The former Umno man was told that one of the most striking news stories was the offer, ostensibly from Kita, of a Rolls Royce and RM10,000 prize money, for the person who could produce an Anwar look-alike.
When asked if this was a genuine offer or a cheap publicity stunt, and pressed for reasons why Kita made this offer, Zaid claimed ignorance.
“I wouldn’t know as it was not made on behalf of the party. You would have to ask Zamil Ibrahim, who made the personal offer. He is our party member from Kedah.”
Asked if there were plans to make a sequel to the sex video with an Anwar look-alike, a visibly irritated Zaid replied: “You would have to ask Zamil.”
When told that the public would be wondering why Kita had to stoop to these depths and that the attention-seeking ploy would damage his party, Zaid again insisted that it had nothing to do with Kita.
“I cannot be correcting what people say. I didn’t even know about this until I arrived in London. They can say what they like. Neither I nor the party made the offer.”
Zaid then sought to clear his name after the interview in which Anwar claimed Zaid had “pleaded, every other night” to be “given the chance” to run for the (Hulu Selangor) by-election.
“I don’t know what he (Anwar) is talking about. I never pleaded with the party to nominate me. It’s not true. It’s an absolute lie.”
“When I was selected to contest the Hulu Selangor seat, Anwar was desperately trying to regain the momentum which had been lost in the wake of the desertion of seven of his MPs. He was at his lowest ebb especially after the failure of Sept 16, 2008 (takeover plan).”
“Not once have I approached him to consider me as a candidate. It doesn’t make sense to contest in Hulu Selangor which has always been an Umno stronghold, except for the fluke year of 2008. Hulu Selangor is not a seat you would want to contest.”
“I asked my friend in PAS, Mustapha Ali and also Lim Kit Siang, if they considered that I should take up this offer. They said, it would not be good for me, as a party member, to decline the offer, because it would seem that I did not want to help the party.”
“I accepted, because I thought the offer had been made in good faith. I have been in Umno for several years and I have never pleaded, even in Umno. You can check with (Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad) and Pak Lah (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi)… with everyone. It is not my style (to plead).”
“Anwar is a liar and this is how he makes his living in politics. He thought I could pull it off. He did not spend a single sen on me. I paid the deposit with my money. The party did not do anything to help me. His remarks are a joke. It’s not true.”
Asked to confirm that he was calling Anwar a liar, Zaid was firm and resolute. “Yes. Absolutely.”
On whether he thought that Anwar might have an ulterior reason for asking him to enter the contest, Zaid said: “You would have to ask him.”
“He probably thought I had the best chance of winning; otherwise, why select me? I was new to the party. Despite all the problems, I came close and I wouldn’t want to speculate why I lost. It’s not true that I pleaded and pleaded.
“To know more about why I joined the party, you should ask Sallehuddin Hashim, the (former) secretary-general. He would know.”
‘Can’t I give my opinion’
Zaid then gave an insight into his relationship with Anwar.
“On Sept 16, Anwar sent Sallehuddin to my house, to ask me to attend the planned rally at the Kelana Jaya stadium. Anwar had nothing to show and nothing of importance to say, so he wanted to announce that I had joined the party.”
“I told Sallehuddin that I had not reached a decision about joining PKR. Having left the government, I needed time to think things through and that took me six months. I wasn’t desperate to join PKR. It was Anwar who was adamant that I should join. I didn’t know I would have problems, otherwise I wouldn’t have joined.”
Zaid was asked if he knew Anwar’s character or had heard stories about him, as both had been in Umno.
“No. He was high up in Umno while I was just a lower ground party member. Anyway, one cannot make decisions based on stories, as in politics you hear all sorts of things.”
Like Anwar, Zaid was visibly irritated when pressed on the subject of the sex video. After his request for a private viewing had been granted, Zaid had agreed that the man in the video was Anwar.
When asked if he was at odds with his legal training which decreed that a man was innocent until proven guilty, he said: “I saw the video. I was convinced it was him and I gave my opinion.”
“Can’t I give my opinion? Why aren’t the other people who saw the video also a subject of query?”
“I told the police investigating this video under Section 292 of the Penal Code that the matter of public interest is not the name of the distributor of the video but who is in the video and whether the video is genuine”.
Zaid then explained why various quarters were out to undermine him.
“Anwar and his cohorts’ spin is to make me look bad. The only way for them to look good is to make me appear bad. So they try very hard to manufacture and concoct things.”
“This is the problem in the country. We are going through a certain disease in that anything involving Anwar is not to be believed. There is a reluctance to investigate and verify the facts. Even when I am not involved, I am deemed responsible.”
Two years ago, people looked up to Zaid especially as he had resigned his post, as the minister of legal affairs because of his high principles. He resigned over the arrest of certain people and the government’s stance on the Internal Security Act.
