"Thick-skinned" Zaid playing victim to milk maximum publicity?

Zaid had tried to overthrow Anwar from PKR

Malaysia Chronicle

Can there really be any doubt that Zaid Ibrahim is leaving PKR? Of course he is – either on his own steam or through the sacking he seems to be angling for. But why is he dithering?

Most PKR members believe - as many have previously predicted - he was trying to milk as much 'publicity' for himself and to embarrass PKR as much as possible before he left.

“He should just leave gracefully and save himself further embarrassment. It is not PKR which will be the worse off, but he himself. The noises that he makes don't show a very nice personality,” PKR strategic director Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

Playing victim to some, hero to others

Perhaps reflecting his stressed state of mind, Zaid had on Sunday given a rash of interviews to the mainstream Malay and English media. To some, he tried to play the victim by saying he feared he would be sacked and would set up his own party. To another, he even said he had already quit PKR.

Latheefa - strange dithering

But the latest statement on his blog is that he will issue a statement clarifying "everything" this Friday, and that he would quit but had not yet tendered his resignation. If he was hoping to needle the PKR top leadership into asking him to reconsider, it is unlikely he will succeed.

Both Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and vice president Azmin Ali extended the olive branch last week, only to be met by a stream of venomous haranguing. They are unlikely to be taken in again as Zaid's plans and motives are by now clear even to the man in the street.

“It is strange he can’t seem to make up his mind from Sunday to Monday morning and then afternoon. The last we hear is, it will now be Friday,” PKR information chief Lateefa Koya told Malaysia Chronicle.

Dolled-up BN spoilers against Pakatan

Secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution has also said PKR will respect Zaid’s decision to go.

‘I understand that a new political party has been set up and elections for party posts have already been held. I do not want to reveal what party that is but I have learned that Zaid have put his men in the party," Bernama reported Saifuddin as saying.

As for Zaid himself, just last week he had professed his “love” for PKR at a small gathering in the Kedah Tengah service centre in Sungei Patani. - earning himself ridicule and brickbats for his perceived "thick-skinned" hypocrisy. Again, he had blamed others for his troubles.

Tian - embarrassing himself further

“I left Umno, I left my minister's post, I left my biggest law firm which brought me a lot of money. I have sacrificed myself, I don't have to brag about it, because I have a long-term political agenda," said Zaid.

"They said I back down too easily but if there are obstacles in my way, I will back down but it does not mean I will quit. These are ways to ridicule me and destroy my reputation. They say only when I did not get something, I quit. When have I acted like this?"

Yet to PKR stalwarts, Zaid began acting “like this” not long after joining their party in 2009. He first drew suspicion when he found faults not for the sake of correcting them, but to boost his own image.

“Most people see him as a gas bag with no reputation left. And for this he has no one to blame but himself. The level of treachery he has exhibited towards PKR and Anwar exposes his true colors. Good leaders won’t be made of such stuff,” Eddie Wong, a PKR stalwart told Malaysia Chronicle.

“Zaid says he will remain in the opposition. So have other PKR turncoats like Zahrain Hashim and Zulkifli Noordin said the same. But are they really opposition or just dolled-up BN spoilers against the Pakatan?”