In a further indication of strife within party ranks, PKR's Zaid Ibrahim announced today he was taking a six-month sabbatical to meet up with various leaders and the rakyat to gain sharper insight into how best to bring about political reform in the country.

pkr egm bangi zaid ibrahim joins pkr event 130609 14 In remarks made to Malaysiakini after notifying the PKR headquarters of his decision to go on six months' leave, Zaid said the furthest thing on his mind when he joined PKR four months ago was to be get involved in factional strife in the party.

"Internecine battles are energy-sapping," he remarked. "I have no intention to waste my time and energy in such pursuits."

Of late Zaid has been embroiled in controversy - unwittingly, he claims - over the question of who is to be the party's choice for chief minister of Sabah.

The matter came up for heated discussion at a PKR political bureau meeting last Tuesday when a memorandum criticising Sabah PKR chief Azmin Ali was tabled at the meeting.

Azmin, who was appointed Sabah PKR chief earlier this year, was reported to have gone ballistic over the contents of the memo, which railed against the 18 division chiefs who supported the memo and demanding that Zaid, who came late to the meeting, not go to a Hari Raya gathering tomorrow he had been invited to attend.

Since the time Zaid officiated a book launch in late August in Kota Kinabalu, he has been the PKR leader of choice among Sabahans to attend party functions in the state, his stance of allowing the locals to decide the question of who is to lead Sabah PKR and become the party's candidate for chief minister further endearing him to the local leadership.

Bone of contention

azmin ali pc in parliament 020709 02 Azmin is reportedly on a less populist tack, consorting with divisional leaders he is comfortable with and being seen with a shadowy operator, Sng Chee Hua, whose track record in Borneo politics is anything but inspiring.

Sng, a tycoon from Sarawak, played a role in getting Sabah state assemblypersons, elected on a PBS ticket in 1994, to scuttle and join the BN which then formed a new government.

Anwar Ibrahim is said to have promoted this apostasy from his eyrie in Kuala Lumpur as Umno deputy president and deputy prime minister.

The unraveling of the PBS government is seen in the perspective of the last 15 years as a critical event leading to the subsidence of Kadazan political power in Sabah and to the worsening of a host of problems now roiling the waters in the state.

Unburdened by lumber from the past, Zaid's approach and tack to Sabah PKR problems led to the invitation to him to attend the Aidilfitri gathering tomorrow that is now becoming a bone of contention in the party.

Anwar has instructed him not to attend. Zaid's decision to go on sabbatical from today enables him to circumvent the order and attend the gathering.

"The invitations have gone out with my name as the guest," explained Zaid matter-of-factly. "I can't let them down."

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