The former Umno minister said his suggestion made on Nov 13 was to appoint a spiritual leader, similar to India’s Mahatma Gandhi, who would not have any ambitions to be prime minister but would instead unite the party to fight for its cause.
His comments drew both positive and negative responses, with Anwar himself noting it was just a personal suggestion from Zaid and that the Pakatan leadership would eventually decide on the chairman.
“An ordinary politician no matter how great or skilled, is not strong enough to fight the Barisan Nasional giant,” Zaid wrote in his myzaidibrahim. wordpress.com weblog today.
“So when I looked to the left and right, I only see Tok Guru Nik Aziz is qualified. He is acceptable to all races and faiths. I then suggested him because I believe only when we put the fight between Pakatan and BN as a spiritual struggle against a corrupt and greedy power, then the people will stand up to side with us,” he explained.
He noted there were other political formulas but he felt it was not enough or appropriate to push a great effort to replace BN as the people’s choice of government.
“The issue of prime minister is up to the Pakatan lawmakers when there are enough seats to form the new government. That is easy as Tok Guru knows and is ready to accept others more suitable to be PM,” said Zaid, who heads the coalition's Common Police Framework group.
The maverick politician said his suggestion was similar to the role of the Labour or Conservative Party chairmen in the UK who never become prime ministers as their role is to care for the unity and stability of their respective parties.
Zaid says his suggestion to make Nik Aziz Pakatan’s head was to strengthen the coalition.
“I want to stress here that at this point in time there are no better lawmakers than Anwar Ibrahim to hold the prime minister’s post when Pakatan gets the majority. So Anwar Ibrahim’s supporters and fans need not worry,” added the politician who is the pro-tem chairman of the Pakatan Rakyat Malaysia.
The opposition bloc sent its registration forms for the coalition last Nov 3.
The former corporate lawyer reiterated that the important thing is to ensure Anwar and Pakatan’s victory in the future.
“What will move a new political tsunami to give people the power through Pakatan?
“After March 8, 2008, people say that Pakatan has lost steam. According to the Merdeka Centre in its recent survey, BN can still win if general elections are called today. In fact, BN is said to be able to regain its two-thirds parliamentary majority. That is how worrying the perception towards Pakatan,” he said.
Zaid said he wanted all Pakatan supporters to think of ways to strengthen the coalition and find new methods and approaches to win support.
“We cannot quickly panic or fear small and trivial issues as that is just political culture. What is important is Pakatan does not run from its main aim by allowing BN some breathing room, of getting the people to enjoy justice, democracy and true freedom without being throttled by power abuse, corruption and discrimination,” he added.
“What is important is Pakatan’s victory as that means success for the people,” he said, adding his advice was for the people and leadership of Pakatan allies to make sacrifices by being honest and sincere to serve.
Zaid hoped the entire matter can be clarified honestly and sincerely at the Pakatan Rakyat convention scheduled for Dec 19.
comments
Yes, Nik Aziz can be the leader of PR. Anwar can be PM. Leader of PR may not be PM. PM may not be Leader of PR.
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