Anwar warned: Zaid may quit PKR

Fri, Feb 5, 2010

National

KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Keadilan Rakyat is under pressure to expel Zaid Ibrahim and keep Zulkifli Noordin and Zahrain Hashim, all of whom are facing disciplinary action over public statements and behaviour that have offended the party, according to celebrated fugitive Raja Petra Kamarudin.
He says in a recent blog posting that the pressure is linked to a tussle for leadership among party figures who believe that the  Najib regime will eventually imprison Anwar Ibrahim to kill his political career.

Some see Zaid as a threat to their rise in the party, says the blogger without mentioning his sources of information.
PKR recently decided to ask Zaid, Zulkifli and Zahrain to answer charges that they had breached party discipline. The disciplinary committee has said it will have the hearing some time this month.
Zulkifli, who is MP for Kulim-Bandar Baharu, carried on a public quarrel with Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad of PAS and lodged a police report against him for supporting a High Court decision allowing Christians to call God “Allah.” Zahrain, MP for Bayan Baru, insulted Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng of DAP. And Zaid, a PKR vice-president and architect of Pakatan Rakyat’s Common Policy Framework, called on the party to sack Zulkifli.
Raja Petra’s article, largely addressed to Anwar, warns of the possibility and consequences of Zaid leaving the party even before he faces the disciplinary board.
“The problem Anwar would face,” he says, “would not be just about Zaid leaving. It would be about the Internet community, bloggers, and civil society movements shifting their alliances and loyalty.”
The article is critical of Anwar’s so-called inner circle and advises the opposition leader to be more realistic than sentimental.
It says: “Anwar should note that those who criticise him or the party have his interest at heart while those who praise him do so for their personal gain and not for the good of the party.”

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