Incensed that his call for Kulim Bandar Baru MP Zulkifli Noordin to be booted out of PKR has gone unheeded, Zaid Ibrahim today slammed the party leadership for hesitating to discipline the outspoken MP.

      

In a stinging blog posting this morning, he said: “Some in the party are too scared to take action against Zulkifli, despite it being clear that his actions were aimed at destroying PKR from within. Until when are we going to practise amphibian (two world) politics?”    

NONE Zaid, the Pakatan Rakyat coordinator, decried the double standards of the PKR leadership.

“On some issues we hold to one principle, then, on another matter we look to another principle,” he added.

Zaid said that, if PKR is not confident of its stand on the ‘Allah’ row and other issues, it should take Zulkifli’s lead and just follow Umno.

If the party is confident that its adheres to the federal constitution and the views of learned ulama , then the party should stand resolute, he said.

“After today, PKR is no longer capable of upholding the principles of its struggle. The party only does what is expedient and convenient.

“PKR today is no different from Umno. Except that it is like a poor man’s version of it.”

   

While Zaid - a one-time Umno stalwart and federal minister - agrees with his friends in PKR that he should patiently allow the disciplinary committee to investigate the matter, he believes that it is a mistake not to at least immediately suspend Zulkifli.

“We should suspend Zulkifli during the investigation because his transgressions are clear and have been repeated many times.”

This he said, should have been clear to those that “can” and “want” to see it.

“We must be fair to him, but we should also be fair to the hundreds of members who look to the party to uphold the principles behind the struggle of Pakatan Rakyat,” he noted.

        

‘Zulkifli no champion of Islam’

He accused those who have failed to discipline Zulkifli as being afraid to face criticism from Muslims and Malays who support the MP.

zulkifli noordin This, he said, is because Zulkifli (left) is mistakenly perceived as a champion of Islam.

“(But) Zulkifli Noordin is no champion of Islam! He is no champion to the Malays either. He is more like an Umno champion,” he said.

Yesterday, PKR’s powerful political bureau imposed a gag order on Zulkifli up to the time the disciplinary committee takes up the complaint against him.

De facto leader Anwar Ibrahim said Zulkifli had gone overboard by lodging a police report against Pakatan ally Khalid Samad of PAS.

Zaid left the political bureau meeting in a huff immediately after it ended yesterday, refusing to talk to reporters who were waiting outside the PKR headquarters.