Zaid Ibrahim has offered to withdraw as candidate for the PKR deputy presidency should Nurul Izzah Anwar join the race.

"I am made to understand that she wants to run for the deputy presidency. If she is really serious, I am ready to withdraw and help her in this contest.

"But if she thinks that she needs me to contest in any other position, I will also go for it," he said, during a press conference at his home in Petaling Jaya today.

azlan Zaid - a supreme council member and the Pakatan Rakyat coordinator - said that he was prepared to do "whatever he can" to help Nurul's bid to join the party leadership.

Later, he refused to rule out the possibility that he would be accepting nominations for party presidency. If this happens, it is likely that he would be challenging incumbent Dr Wan Azizah Ismail, who is also Nurul's mother.

" Saya, presiden pun boleh. Semua pun boleh (For me, I can also be president. Every post is also fine for me). I don't reject anything. I just have to ensure that Nurul can win.

"But I hope that the president will give her blessings to her daughter," said Zaid.

He also denied that this could lead to charges of nepotism, considering two from Anwar's family will then be in the top leadership of the party.

"What makes you think that with (PKR vice-president Azmin Ali) it's not nepotism?" he said to chuckles among the press corps.

According to Zaid, Nurul has qualified for the deputy president's race with three nominations, while he has "four or five" nominations for presidency.

NONE He also sang praises for the 30-year-old first term Lembah Pantai MP, and that he will stand by her even if it means contesting against her father or mother in the party polls.

"My interest is for Nurul, no one else.

"I think she is young, brave and she's not shy to face the opposition. And I think with my help, she can win," he said, adding that he has spoken to her about his intention.

When asked about the perceived unrequited support that he has shown to Nurul Izzah who had, in return, been relatively quiet on her stand, Zaid simply put it down to methodology.

"I am an older man, so I have my older ways. She is from the younger generation. So they have their own ways," he said.

U-turn on Khalid Ibrahim

But when pointed out over his own blog posting on Sept 1 which stated that he will only contest for deputy presidency on the condition that Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim doesn't, Zaid said that "times have changed".

"When I said that, I thought that he wasn't interested or keen on it. So I just wrote in my blog, thinking that he may have strong support from the ground or something.

"But now, it is obvious that he has changed his mind. Then again, now I've got more nominations than he does... It does not seem right to withdraw simply because of (Khalid).

NONE "I know that peope will say that I'm a person who changes my mind. But it's like driving a car to a destination. If situation changes, you can always take a different road, as long as you reach that place," said Zaid.

Meanwhile, he rubbished rumours that he is a trojan horse out to destroy the party.

"Show me the proof. It's like saying that I'm behind all this Rahimi ( left ) allegations. It's not true," he said, in reference to the controversial press conference yesterday held by Rahimi Osman, Anwar Ibrahim's former aide.

Rahimi had lodged a police report yesterday claiming that he was pressured into making a statutory declaration implicating Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor in Anwar's current sodomy trial.

‘I will not resign'

NONE Despite the criticisms and personal attacks fired at him in the run-up to the party elections, he refuted speculations that he will resign from the party.

"I am not even close to resigning. Of coure I'm disappointed with all these attacks but I have my own fans in the party.

"Of course it has crossed my mind but I have to think of my friends in the party. That's more important than what I feel.

"But I have no regrets joining PKR. Every party also has their own set of problems, it's just that the party has to be consistent," he said.

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