Just a week after obtaining a new name and a fresh constitution, johnny-come-lately Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (Kita) announced today that it is eyeing rapid, but cautious, expansion.

“Just one week after being approved, we already have 1,000 applications for membership,” Kita leader Zaid Ibrahim said.

NONE However, Zaid said, the applications would be thoroughly vetted by the party secretariat.

Speaking at a press conference in Petaling Jaya, Zaid also announced Kita’s first major recruit - Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Beng.

Tan, who left PKR in March last year, said he joined Kita because he felt the party was free from “dirty politics”.

"We also welcome other  MPs, assemblypersons and indeed other leaders and would-be leaders who want to serve the people but cannot do so in their parties. We are open to all.

"We are new, we have no baggage, no hang-ups and no cronies,” Zaid said.

He also revealed that talks are under way with several parties in Kedah, Perak, Selangor, Sabah and Sarawak to explore cooperative efforts.

Online communication

Asked if the party was ready to face the next general election, Zaid said grassroots mobilisation work was in progress, albeit slowly.

"We will focus on winnable candidates and winnable areas. We hope  the general election is not so soon... to will give us time to prepare our policies, manifestos and what not," the former federal minister and Umno strongman said.

NONE Zaid also announced the launch of Kita’s new communication portal, dubbed KomunitiKita , to serve as a secure yet open forum for Kita members in the likeness of popular social networking website Facebook .

“Democracy always requires healthy discussion,” he said, adding that Kita planned to use its private social network to make sure that everyone in Kita stayed connected and had a voice.

Helming the project for Kita is Hardeesh Singh, who is known for producing web-based current affairs and satire programme PopTeeVee .