KUALA LUMPUR: This has been a long courtship. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his colleagues in PKR and DAP have been eyeing Datuk Zaid Ibrahim ever since it became obvious that he was a misfit in the Abdullah administration.
His focus on judicial reform, reviewing the ISA and dismantling the NEP sat well with those in the Opposition and in the last days as the defacto Law Minister, he was invited by Anwar to join PKR.
That was in September last year. But the former Umno division chief held off joining the Opposition formally, unsure if Anwar and his ilk were really committed to reform and uncertain if the nascent Pakatan Rakyat (PR) marriage would survive once the euphoria of Election 2008 had been replaced by petty jealousy and self-glorification.
Still in spirit, Zaid was a member of the Opposition, campaigning for PR candidates at every by-election since the electoral contest in Kuala Terengganu and attending Opposition events.
The intensity of the courtship increased after Zaid was sacked from Umno.
In recent weeks, he has been agonising over whether to accept Anwar’s offer. Clearly he was flattered by the invitation from the former deputy prime minister and the high regard in which he is held by PKR officials.
Strangers walked up to him and urged him to sever his links with Barisan Nasional (BN). But until a week ago, he felt that he did not want to submit himself to the cut throat world of party politics, appreciating that PKR politics may be as distasteful to him as the shenanigans in Umno.
As a compromise, he decided that he would set up a brains trust of prominent Malaysians and provide intellectual input for PR. This unit would be funded by PKR-DAP-PAS and would help firm up a common platform for the Opposition.
Zaid told friends that he was concerned that PR was drifting. He briefed Anwar on his idea of helming this think tank and received the latter’s approval.
So to all intent and purposes, Zaid was all set to become a backroom boy. What changed in the last few days? What persuaded Zaid to finally say yes to Anwar?
Perhaps it was the realisation that he would have sounded hypocritical and shallow calling Malaysians to support change and reform from the safe confines of the sidelines.
MI
14/06/09
His focus on judicial reform, reviewing the ISA and dismantling the NEP sat well with those in the Opposition and in the last days as the defacto Law Minister, he was invited by Anwar to join PKR.
That was in September last year. But the former Umno division chief held off joining the Opposition formally, unsure if Anwar and his ilk were really committed to reform and uncertain if the nascent Pakatan Rakyat (PR) marriage would survive once the euphoria of Election 2008 had been replaced by petty jealousy and self-glorification.
Still in spirit, Zaid was a member of the Opposition, campaigning for PR candidates at every by-election since the electoral contest in Kuala Terengganu and attending Opposition events.
The intensity of the courtship increased after Zaid was sacked from Umno.
In recent weeks, he has been agonising over whether to accept Anwar’s offer. Clearly he was flattered by the invitation from the former deputy prime minister and the high regard in which he is held by PKR officials.
Strangers walked up to him and urged him to sever his links with Barisan Nasional (BN). But until a week ago, he felt that he did not want to submit himself to the cut throat world of party politics, appreciating that PKR politics may be as distasteful to him as the shenanigans in Umno.
As a compromise, he decided that he would set up a brains trust of prominent Malaysians and provide intellectual input for PR. This unit would be funded by PKR-DAP-PAS and would help firm up a common platform for the Opposition.
Zaid told friends that he was concerned that PR was drifting. He briefed Anwar on his idea of helming this think tank and received the latter’s approval.
So to all intent and purposes, Zaid was all set to become a backroom boy. What changed in the last few days? What persuaded Zaid to finally say yes to Anwar?
Perhaps it was the realisation that he would have sounded hypocritical and shallow calling Malaysians to support change and reform from the safe confines of the sidelines.
MI
14/06/09
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