PKR not affected by Zaid’s retreat, analysts say

Zaid pulled out of the PKR elections and relinquished his party posts this morning. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 — PKR will not suffer noticeably from Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s decision today to withdraw from the party elections and all his party posts, analysts said. “Obviously it is going to be a negative but the fall out will be much less than speculated. I believe the party is strong enough to withstand these internal upheavals,” Lim Teck Ghee told The Malaysian Insider today.
The director of the policy think tank, Centre for Policy Initiatives, added that “Zaid’s support has always been amongst the English educated and liberals, and this group will be smart enough to separate the personal interests from the party’s.
“I do not see them deserting the party in large numbers as a result of this.”
Zaid stunned the party when he announced his decision to drop out of the deputy presidential race and resign from all party posts in his blog early this morning.
The former Umno minister cited the unwillingness of PKR’s top leaders to address allegations of manipulation and untoward practices in the party’s ongoing elections despite the matters being raised repeatedly, as the reason for his decision.
“I wish to announce my withdrawal as a candidate from the contest of deputy president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat and my resignation from all posts held in the party,” said Zaid.
Former PKR deputy president Dr Chandra Muzaffar agreed with Lim and said the former Cabinet member’s decision will not trigger a mass defection.
“Zaid’s supporters will not leave the party. He had only resigned from his posts and [did] not leave the party,” Chandra said, adding that Zaid’s supporters will “take their cue from Zaid. It would seem for now that his supporters want to fight from within the party.”
Asked if Zaid will eventually quit PKR, Lim said, “No, he will not quit PKR.  If he was going to do it, he will have done so by now. His political principles and values make him a natural leader for the PKR and the Pakatan.”
Political analyst James Chin from the University of Monash said, however, that if Zaid were to withdraw his support from the party, “it would damage PKR’s credibility mostly among the middle-class Chinese communities and the English educated.”
Both Chin and Chandra agreed that Zaid’s decision to drop out of the race and resign all party posts was probably a sign of protest.
“Allegations about malpractices in PKR have been around for some time now. Zaid’s resignation from the party posts is sort of a confirmation that things are wrong in the party,” Chandra told The Malaysian Insider.
“It gives the impression to the general public that things are wrong in the party,” he added.
Asked what message was being sent by the former de facto law minister’s decision, Chandra reiterated that it signified “there are very serious problems in PKR.”
Touching on the debacle in the deputy presidency race last week, when Zaid had been said to be leading before a subsequent correction put Azmin Ali ahead, Chandra said “This will show a lot of people, especially those ardent supporters of Anwar (Ibrahim), that the man is the problem.”
Azmin, who leads the now two-horse race for the deputy president’s post, is said to have Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s backing.
“This is what I realised in my two-and-a-half years in the party. He (Anwar) will do whatever it takes. He will make sure his favourite wins the contest,” said Chandra, who stepped down as PKR deputy president and quit the party in November 2001.
“I feel sorry for Zaid that this is the tragedy about Anwar. He is a man who has no real commitment or principle,” he added.