Zaid says will win — eventually

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 — Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has been unfazed by the growing support for his contender, Azmin Ali, in the PKR deputy presidency race, claiming he would likely win the next round even if he faltered now.

Both party strongmen are due to slug it out to replace incumbent Senator Dr Syed Husin Ali, who opted not to defend the post in the party’s first direct elections since its formation in 1999 and merger with Parti Rakyat Malaysia in 2003.

The former Umno man, who created headlines last year when he quit the government and later joined PKR, told The Malaysian Insider in an interview that he would continue his campaign even if he lost in the coming polls.

“Well, if you lose once, it does not mean you will lose again. No problem. I will try again... I am still young, only approaching 60,” Zaid said when met at the Tropicana clubhouse near his residence here.

Looking relaxed, he said that it was “okay” that he was walking into this fight alone, claiming that in the long term, he was likely to win.

Unlike Zaid, Azmin has received endorsements for the deputy presidency race from a host of PKR leaders, including 20 MPs and 13 state assemblymen from Selangor and Negri Sembilan before confirming his candidacy yesterday.

“I will win. I am sure of that. If I do not get the support now, or if not tomorrow, then next year or the year after. You never know,” Zaid said.

The former de facto law minister expressed confidence that if all PKR members knew of his visions and goals for the party, they would back him 100 per cent.

“If they knew me, not just on a personal level, but if they understand in full what I want to do, then yes, why not?

“Unfortunately, our culture does not encourage discourse or debates. Instead, we are branded and people label you and you have to live with that label. It just takes time for people to see the kind of things you have to offer them,” he said.

Zaid pointed out that his brand of politics was clear-cut and vision-based, and that he was an “honest man” who did not believe in flip-flopping on his policies.

“I have been in politics for a long time. I was a minister before and I do not have the ambition to be somebody, the prime minister or something, at some point.

“I want to be a catalyst or someone who can help make the country a better place in terms of policies — that is why I left the government. I am very clear on what I want to do,” he said.

Zaid also said he believed he could bring more inclusiveness in the party and unite the factions.

“I do not like camps or cliques. I do not have preferred leaders. I do not have that sort of habit in me.

“I look at people for the value they give... for the contributions they make and that is how I judge them. I am slightly more open-minded in the way I look at things, and as a reformist party, we need new ideas, new people, the ability to tap into people’s strengths and I think I can play that role,” he said.

MT