Parti Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (Kita) leader Zaid Ibrahim today announced the admission of Nibong Tebal parliamentarian Tan Tee Beng, into the ranks of his fledgling party.

"I am proud to announce that barely a week after the party’s name-change and approval of a new constitution, we have managed to attract a young MP like Tan into our fold," a beaming Zaid told a press conference at Tropicana, Petalling Jaya.

He praised Tan’s decision as a “brave” move, adding that it would  further strenghten and galvanise the newly-refrocked party.

Reminiscent of his press conference after leaving PKR and the introductory speech by former party secretary-general Salehuddin Hashim who helped him do so, the Nibong Tebal MP then read out from a prepared statement.

NONE “I am joining Kita because I believe they are interested in genuine change, address the growing concerns of the rakyat and tackle hard issues and meaningful reforms,” he said.

Tan ( left ) quit PKR in March last year, after confiding in Salehuddin of ‘dirty politics and character assassinations’ in the opposition party that he claimed he could no longer stomach.

However, rumours persists that his change of heart was fuelled by other reasons, namely BN intervention.

‘I did not lompat ’

Asked by reporters if he still deserves trust after jumping around so many times, first leaving Gerakan for PKR and now PKR for Kita, Tan denied he is a party-hopper.

“I did not lompat , I was sacked by Gerakan, together with my father who is also a founder member (of Gerakan).

NONE “When I was sacked, I did not join any party untill 2007. Only then did I join PKR,” he said.

He also reminded reporters that he  did not join any other political party after leaving PKR.

“I withdrew from PKR, I did not jump!” stressed Tan.

Zaid then interjected if that were the case, Kita wouldn’t have accepted Tan.

“I, too, was accused of being a katak , but I did not jump, I was sacked by Umno for protesting the use of the ISA against the rakyat,” he added, jumping to Tan’s defence.

‘Konsensus Bebas not my parents’

Asked if he had informed his fellow members in the ‘Konsensus Bebas’ about this latest development, Tan said he was not obliged to do so.

“The ‘Konsensus Bebas’ are not my parents, more like my brothers, I am under no obligation to inform them of my joining Kita.

“We are just there to share resources together, since we are all Independents with not much resources of our own, nothing more,” he said.

Tan, together with other independents, mostly fellow MPs who withdrew from the opposition Pakatan coalition, formed a loose coalition of unaffiliated elected parliamentarians as they are not members of any of the major political blocks that make up Malaysia’s political landscape.

While mostly seen to be BN-friendly, the Independents have vehemently defended their ‘independence’. However, during debates in Parliament, they mostly spend their time hitting at the opposition.

Other notable Independent MPs in the group include vocal Bandar Baru Kulim MP Zulkifli Noordin, who was sacked from PKR for ‘following his conscience’, and Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong, whose continual tirade against his own party finally made him alienated enough that he resigned to go to greener pastures.

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