Sarawak still enthusiastic about PKR, says Zaid

MalaysiaInsider

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 – PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, freshly returned from his first meeting in Kuching with local leaders, told The Malaysian Insider today that there was still “a lot of enthusiasm” for the party.

The former Umno man given the task of crafting a common platform for the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) alliance to take into the next general election – and towards taking over Putrajaya – noted that his first meeting with community leaders went well.

He said he had met some 60 to 70 leaders from the Dayak, Chinese and Malay communities while a guest of former Sarawak deputy chief minister, Datuk Seri Daniel Tajem.

Though their exchange only touched on general issues, it was candid, he noted.

He said he stressed to them the need for the various ethnicities to stand united in the face of challenges.

“I advised them not to let certain quarters influence them,” said Zaid.

In return, they asked him: “Are we going to be another peninsular party?”

Zaid said he told them: “Sarawakians will decide what Sarawak wants.”

Asked if he would be heading any further missions to either Sarawak or Sabah, he said he would wait for further “instructions” from the party leadership.

Zaid, who is said to be caught up in an internal power struggle within PKR, announced he was taking a six-month break last week to focus on the highly-anticipated first summit for PR in December.

The lawyer-turned-political reformist also told The Malaysian Insider today he had handed in his policy draft to the three parties in PR.

He did not comment on the details of the recommended measures, but hinted that the “right thing to do” was a throwback to basic human interaction such as “listening to them more” and “get the members more involved.”

Zaid noted that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s decision today to mark Sept 16 as a public holiday was a “good start” in bridging the gap between the two Borneo states and the peninsula.

“Better late than never,” he quipped.

“I think there should be more than that,” Zaid said, noting that the agreement bringing Sabah and Sarawak into the fold happened close to half a century ago.

He pointed that the federal government must give due recognition to the “spirit of the agreement” and provide a “more equitable balance of power and policy”.