ANALYSIS When embattled former PKR Federal Territories chairperson Zaid Ibrahim announced on his blog in the wee hours of Monday morning that he would be withdrawing from the race for party deputy presidency, the decision caught even many of his closest supporters by surprise.

Although it has been widely speculated and discussed that the maverick politician has long thought about throwing in the towel over what he  believed was farcical party elections, it was said that his running mates only discovered his decision at the same time as everyone else.

But what caught even more people by surprise was Zaid's outburst against party de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and his blue-eyed boy Azmin Ali...