COMMENT Zaid Ibrahim is losing potential allies faster than gaining new ones in his fight for reforms in PKR.

That's because he cannot sustain a clear line of attack, a necessity whenever a would-be reformer attempts to change the status quo.

Yesterday, a statement of support for the party leadership by Mustaffa Kamil Ayub, the third contestant in the race for the deputy president's post, clearly disassociated the author from Zaid's spiraling attacks in the latter's course of dissidence within PKR.

NONE Not that Mustaffa ( left ) would ordinarily have made common cause with Zaid in the struggle for reform of PKR; he merely seemed to agree with Zaid that the ongoing election process in the party, particularly the contest for deputy president, is tainted with irregularities. He called for the election's suspension pending investigations.

But when Zaid expanded his criticisms of the electoral process to include attacks on Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali, describing the PKR supremo and his loyalist, as the root cause of the party's problems, Mustaffa must have felt the need to pull the brakes.

Mustaffa came out in support of the party leadership, thus drawing a clear line of distinction between his reservations about the election process and Zaid's expansive criticisms.

NONE Another ally of Zaid's, N Gobalakrishnan ( right ), a contestant in the race for one of four vice-presidential slots, also took the opportunity yesterday to disassociate from Zaid's scatter-shot approach.

In a meeting with divisional leaders in Johor Baru yesterday, attended by Anwar, Chua Jui Meng and Azmin, Gobalakrishnan, presently running an impressive fifth in the tally of votes for the veep position, said he would not endorse Zaid's attacks on Anwar.

"I support him in the contest for deputy president but when he expanded his attacks to include Anwar as a target, I had to make clear I support Anwar in his struggle to bring political reform to the country," Gobalakrishnan told Malaysiakini on the sidelines of the meeting.

Gobala: I'm still with Anwar

Earlier, Gobalakrishnan candidly told assembled divisional leaders, in the presence of Azmin, Zaid's rival for deputy president, that he supported Zaid in the contest for party No 2 but not in his new-found vein of attacks on Anwar.

"I have been with Anwar since the start of reformasi 12 years ago and I am still with him. He has brought me up in the party and I will not abandon his struggles for reform of the country," said Gobalakrishnan when invited to speak at the gathering.

NONE Until Zaid announced earlier this week that he was quiting the race for deputy president, Gobalakrishnan was conspicuous in his support for Zaid.

But with Zaid digressing from his frequently expressed criticisms of the ongoing electoral exercise to include attacks on Anwar and Azmin Ali, Gobalakrishnan felt obliged to make a distinction between support for Zaid's personal and corporate quests.

The distinction would not have been made had Zaid been more disciplined in his approach.

 

TERENCE NETTO has been a journalist for close on four decades. He likes the occupation because it puts him in contact with the eminent without being under the necessity to admire them.