'My husband a fighter of people's rights'

KUALA KUBU BARU: Behind every successful man, there is a woman. Cliches aside, it would not be difficult to believe that when Zaid Ibrahim gazes at his wife's face, he would feel as if he could take on the world, what more Barisan Nasional.

Despite the scorching heat and hectic schedule, Suliana Shamsuddin still looked ravishing, and she never grew tired of flashing a smile that would surely melt many a heart.

Suliana, who met her husband at a party, has been married to the PKR candidate for 31 years, and the couple have two sons and one daughter.

“There has never been a dull moment since,” she replied when asked what attracted her to Zaid.

When FMT caught up with her this afternoon, Suliana was surrounded by family, including her parents and her son's in-laws.

“This has become a family campaign,” joked the soft-spoken former human resources director.

On the Barisan Nasional campaign which labelled her husband as an alcoholic and gambler, Suliana said while it is painful to read and hear such things, the family however took it in its stride.

“He gave up drinking a long time ago. That was in the past, we are now focusing on the future and on what he can do for the people of Hulu Selangor and Malaysians in general.

“It is not a fair campaign, but they (BN) want to portray him in that light. As for my children, my sons are fine but my daughter who is only 17 has been affected a little by it,” she said.

Suliana said the family is busy with the campaign and therefore has very little time to ponder over these issues.

“We are just focusing our efforts on the door-to-door campaign, attending ceramah and visiting villages and estates. It has been a wonderful experience to meet all these people,” she said.

Zaid is a simple man

Suliana also dismissed the claim that Zaid's liberal views with regard to several issues makes him a lesser Muslim than others.

“We are very proud of him and all his achievements, and we would support him all the way,” she said.

Suliana was also surprised that certain quarters have dismissed her husband as being too high-profile for a semi-urban constituency such as Hulu Selangor.

They claim that Zaid, who founded the biggest law firm in the country, is not able to interact with those from the lower-income bracket.

“I am surprised that there are those who would say such things. He comes from a simple background from Kelantan where the people are not very wealthy.

“He never had any difficulty mixing with people irrespective of their background. To accuse him of that is surprising, him of all people.

“He is enjoying a lot of support here, including from the Malays,” she said.

Asked what was her reaction when Zaid informed her of his intention to contest in the by-election, Suliana said she told him that she would back him until the end.

“It would be a waste of talent if he did not do so,” she said, adding that things were different now compared to when Zaid contested in the 2004 general election for the Kota Baru parliamentary seat.

“Back then it was the general election, and everyone was doing their own thing. But this is a by-election and the entire focus is on this seat,” she said.

Suliana also believes that her husband would be the best choice for the people of Hulu Selangor.

Asked why they should vote for him, she replied: “He is sincere in wanting to help the people and has tremendous experience.”

“He has always been a fighter of people's rights. His presence would be an added value for Hulu Selangor,” she added.
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Campaigning for the parliamentary seat ends at midnight. Come tomorrow, Zaid would take on BN's P Kamalanathan for the Malay-majority seat, which also has a sizeable number of Chinese and Indian voters.

The seat fell vacant following the death of PKR incumbent Zainal Abidin Ahmad on March 25.

FMT
24/04/10

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