Now we know whom to trust, Zaid says after Dr M’s exposé on Ku Li
(Malay Mail Online) – Instead of misgivings, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim believes the Save Malaysia movement will benefit from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s shock revelation yesterday on one part of its covert negotiations to oust the prime minister.
The planner behind tomorrow’s meeting of government critics claimed to be in the dark over seasoned Gua Musang MP Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s previous role in the group to entice key Umno leaders to back a no-confidence vote against Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
“It just shows that we have all kind of politicians here in Malaysia,” Zaid told Malay Mail Online when contacted after Dr Mahathir’s disclosure.
“It will have a positive effect because now we will know who to trust, who not to trust, and who we can rely upon,” the former de facto law minister said.
He added: “We have not spoken about who will be the replacement PM, but it’s positive, for we have a clearer idea”.
Zaid has been assembling an unlikely group of civil society leaders and politicians from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) and opposition parties for a closed-door meeting in Shah Alam tomorrow to discuss their strategies to push Najib into resigning.
The group now dubbed Save Malaysia signed a declaration March 4 calling for Najib to step down.
Tengku Razaleigh, who has been critical of the current administration before but did not attend the “Citizens’ Declaration” at its launch, raised eyebrows when he inked another declaration in Kelantan yesterday pledging support for Najib instead.
Dr Mahathir claimed earlier today that Tengku Razaleigh changed his support after initially pushing for a vote of no confidence against Najib but failed to secure a majority support among BN lawmakers.
Without mentioning the Kelantan prince popularly known as Ku Li specifically, Zaid also said he was not surprised if the veteran lawmaker had initiated such moves.
“I heard from third-party sources about such a move but I never know for sure. But it is possible,” he said.
“Some politicians always wanted to become PM and they will try all means necessary to achieve that,” he added.
Tengku Razaleigh challenged Dr Mahathir for the Umno presidency in the mid 1980s and lost.
He later formed a splinter party called Semangat 46, which eventually disbanded in 1996 after faring poorly in elections, and returned to Umno after that.
