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(The Star) - Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has dismissed talk that he is leaving PKR, saying he is on six months’ leave from the party because he did not want to get bogged down by meetings.
The PKR political bureau member, who announced last month that he was going on leave, stressed that he never said he was leaving PKR, which he joined less than five months ago. “No, it’s not true. I am instead busy meeting the people to explain Pakatan Rakyat’s policies,” he told reporters after speaking at a forum here on Monday night. Zaid, who is coordinator of Pakatan Rakyat is part of the secretariat involved in drawing up a charter spelling out the core policies of the opposition alliance which comprises PKR, PAS and the DAP. He also denied he had any differences with PKR vice-president Azmin Ali. Zaid spoke on the Two-Party System for Malaysia at a Sembang-Sembang forum, a non-profit and non-commercial initiative by a group of volunteers which has the support of Pantai Jerejak assemblyman Sim Tze Tzin, at the Caring Society Complex here. Zaid said that it was time for Malaysia to have a two-party system, but the process was still in its infancy. He said there were a lot of differences among the Pakatan Rakyat parties because of the different political backgrounds, and the DAP, PKR and PAS would have to compromise and narrow their differences. “We all know that the Opposition pact today is fragile. Whatever the weakness of the parties, or our expectations of them, I would like to appeal to the public to continue to support the Opposition as the problems facing the parties are surmountable,” he said. To a question from the floor, Zaid said Sabah and Sarawak were vital if Pakatan wanted to form the federal government. He said the coalition had to make inroads into Sabah and Sarawak to perform well there at the next general election, by supporting and addressing issues that affected both states such as customary land rights, disproportionate development, and the rights of natives and illegal immigrants.
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