Is Zaid Ibrahim the new political clown prince of Malaysian politics? I think he is. And I am not saying this in a negative way, but most affectionately. Many in Malaysia would also agree.

So what's new with him?

He is no politician. He is definitely no leader. He climbed up the ladder in national Malaysian politics on the premise that he was open and broad-minded.

He was immediately allowed into the inner sanctum of Umno and Barisan with an appointment as minister in the prime minister's department. It turned out to be a place for him to feel displaced. So he opted out, not because he did not like those around him, but the fact that he could not be himself.

 

He did not aspire to rise any further in the Umno and Barisan hierarchy. So he got stuck. And he felt restless. And he had to find fault to allow him to get out of the sanctums he had placed himself in.

 

How could a person of his stature not know if the sanctums were good for him when he decided to accept the post in the prime minister's department in the first place? Can we then say he had vision?

 

He didn't realise being in the cabinet does not allow anyone to be open and broad-minded as one's role in it has been chipped to fit into just a small part of the system. So one cannot claim the high horse to make one's own pronouncements on anything.

 

Being in the cabinet therefore has its pitfalls and disadvantages, in that one loses oneself to one's particular role that one has been assigned to. They do not brook duplication. So Zaid could not speak like he is the prime minister.

 

A minister in the cabinet can be akin to an advisor with the cabinet forming the team of advisors of all disciplines that the prime minister creates to allow him to get the best views and matters for him to formulate his grand plans. So a member of the cabinet's views on anything is just one of the many views the prime minister has to take into account.

Zaid's personal and official views on the law for instance had been taken into account, but they were all seen in the context of those that the prime minister then had, which caused Zaid's own views to be discarded.

 

This is the game they play in Putrajaya. Only the greenhorns in the cabinet did not know this.

 

So this is what had created the Zaid Ibrahim that we now know. He is just someone who, so young, could distract the media and public.

 

He could not fit in Barisan. He thought he could serve the country better by joining PKR. In no time he felt restless.

 

He is not allowed to return to Umno and Barisan - unless he wins a state or parliament constituency as an independent and becomes 'friendly' towards Barisan, which can pave his way back to Umno. But alas Umno and Barisan cannot change simply to meet with his 'high demands' on openness, etc etc.

 

Zaid is therefore the new political clown prince of Malaysia; this is not an understatement. And it is a compliment as not many in Malaysia can achieve this. Anwar Ibrahim did it once before.

 

Personally I don't think Zaid can be of any use to Umno, PKR or PAS. The problem with Zaid is he is a man unto himself; he does not know how to fit in. He gets into a fit if no one or any party does not toe his line of thinking and concept of democracy, etc, etc.

 

He is not a team player. He wants everybody to agree with him.

 

Well, in politics, one agrees with the majority. It's the views of the majority that matter. So rarely do individuals take charge in the shaping of any group of political party's struggle unless one wants to fashion oneself as a dictator.

 

Maybe Zaid is a dictator wannabe. If he cannot go with the flow, then the flow will hit back on him.

Zaid has nothing to lose; either way, he wins, with the media and the unofficial support from Umno and Barisan behind him since he has not become their 'spokesman'. He has an advantage because he is an outsider who was an insider, so those in PKR and Pakatan know him well to try not to provoke him further.

 

This is Zaid. I am not enamoured with him. I heard his speech at a Suhakam seminar at the Rennaissance Hotel once and he did not impress me the least.