PETALING JAYA: “Let’s debate!” said Zaid Ibrahim, with a scathing glitter in his eyes. It is a challenge often enunciated by his rival Anwar Ibrahim, and now thrown back at the PKR de facto chief.
“I want to debate in Kajang on why he wants to be Menteri Besar. Why is he better than Khalid? How is he a credible leader?” he asked, his every word punctuated with a thump of his fist on his desk.
“His supporters say I’m not credible. His supporters say Zaid is an Umno plant. Zaid is whatever. So I want to debate with him, let’s see who’s more credible,” said Zaid.
Zaid, a former Cabinet minister, former PKR member, and former Anwar ally has no doubts in his mind on who would triumph in both the proposed war of words and the looming battle for the ballots.
It was only two days ago that the veteran politician announced his intention to run in the PKR-engineered polls, a by-election that most political observers and analysts say is Anwar’s to win.
But Zaid is undaunted. In an exclusive interview at his mansion in Tropicana yesterday, the former law minister said he was better than Anwar on many levels, and laid down his cards one by one.
“I’m better (than Anwar) because I’m honest, I’m truthful, I don’t play around in politics like he does. I didn’t have sex problems. I wasn’t sacked.
“I quit (the Cabinet) because of principles, very important principles – using preventive detention laws against people. So I quit. Did Anwar quit? He didn’t. He was sacked. So that’s a difference.
“He’s very divisive, he wants to topple Khalid. I don’t want to topple Khalid,” said Zaid, the former de facto law minister with an air of finality, akin to a declaration of ‘checkmate’.
For that is Zaid’s trump card, one which he intends to play to the hilt – that he is the go-to man for voters happy with the Selangor Menteri Besar’s performance.
He said voters are fed up with PKR for orchestrating a by-election so soon after the general election and are hungry for a third, independent force to balance out a two-party system.
Other than Zaid, the Kajang candidates who announced their intention to contest are a motley crew – a 1980s dangdut singer, a former legal aide, and a former tennis buddy of Anwar’s.
‘People are tired of his gimmicks’
None appears to pose a serious threat to the ‘world-class leader Kajang voters should be grateful for’, as PKR deputy president Azmin Ali had described Anwar.
Hopes were high that PSM would fill in the ‘third force’ position, but these were soon dashed when the PR-friendly party declared it was staying out of a by-election it deemed unethical and unnecessary.
Zaid, a senior politician with a reformist track record to rival Anwar’s, is a minister from Abdullah Badawi’s era who voluntarily resigned his comfortable post in protest against the Internal Security Act.
After leaving the corridors of power, he joined PKR but soon quit on the grounds that its internal polls were allegedly rigged.
Zaid then formed his own party, Parti Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (Kita), but unlike PKR, it failed to gain traction among Malaysians and the man seemed doomed to political oblivion.
But against all odds, after quitting politics, Zaid stayed relevant through his blog, writing political commentaries and examining hot-button national issues.
His writings were picked up by media organisations, making it almost impossible for the country’s leaders to ignore. But will that be enough to beat Anwar in the by-elections? Zaid certainly thinks so.
“My chances are very good because a lot of people in Kajang will support me,” he declared, emboldened by his belief that Anwar’s popularity is waning.
“People are tired of his gimmicks. We just had an election, now we’re going to have another election. Do people like that? We will see,” he said, with the air of someone who already had it in the bag.
And a debate, Zaid said, would be the best way to showcase which man had more to offer to Kajang and Selangor.
“I want the debate to cover everything. Personality. Policies. Consistency. Integrity. Let’s examine. So that once and for all, we can settle this.
“I hope he agrees because he likes to challenge people. He challenged Najib, he challenged Mahathir. I hope he will challenge me, let’s see what happens,” said Zaid, and cracked a wry smile.
It is an offer that surely Anwar cannot resist – and Zaid knows it.
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