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Zaid wants Nazir, royals to enter political arena
Published:  Jul 15, 2015 5:51 PM
Updated: 11:31 AM

Malaysia, according to Zaid Ibrahim, is in need of new leaders with clear heads to change the nation for the better.

And topping the former law minister's list is Nazir Razak, the brother of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and chairperson of CIMB.

"He has the 'Razak' name, which is worth a pot of gold, and he can be our future prime minister if he wants it badly enough," he added.

Zaid ( photo ) also hopes Nazir would rope in other young Malays, especially those from the royal households, into the political arena.

"Of course they have to sacrifice their comfortable lives a bit, as they need to wade into the mud and accept the criticisms that will come their way.

"As I said earlier, the royals may have to sacrifice the throne if they want to go into politics. But the country needs them now more than ever.

"If King Edward VIII was willing to sacrifice the throne for a woman he loved, surely the Royals can also do that for the country," he added in his blog post.

Zaid argued that Umno leaders have been behaving like royals of ages past, with no accountability to the people.

"Perhaps it is now necessary to get real royals to counter their incendiary politics and save the country," he said.

The former minister said he was touched by Johor prince Tunku Idris Sultan Ibrahim's Instagram posting calling on Malaysians not to be divided along racial lines.

The posting came in the aftermath of the brawls outside Low Yat plaza in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend.

"Coming from a young man who lives in the palace, this is extraordinarily refreshing. How we wish our well-bred leaders in Putrajaya could sound half as good," said Zaid.

Zaid also expressed concern that incidents such as the attack on the DAP event in Johor and the Low Yat riot reveal a trend that "gangster-politics" might rule the day.

"Malaysians who love this country must not stop working to counter these threats because we will be doomed if fascist ideas gain wider acceptance," he added.

Nazir is in the midst of setting up a NGO, and it has been reported that he is reaching out to the progressive faction in PAS as well.

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