Zaid apologises to Dr M and Daim, will quit politics for good
PETALING JAYA: Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has retracted his statement about Tun Daim Zainuddin’s involvement with the Pakatan Harapan government and the reference to his role in making important decisions.
The former law minister said that he regretted his “unfair and unjustified remarks” and that he apologised to both Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Daim for the anguish his writing caused them.
Zaid said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had called him and said that his statement was uncalled for as it was not true and not based on facts.
“He suggested that I make a retraction.
“Then my closest friends asked why I was picking unnecessary fights with so many people. Even my family members seemed unhappy.
“They told me we would no longer have food on the table if I continued giving opinions about powerful people in the country,” he said in a statement that was posted on Free Malaysia Today.
Zaid said that the world came crashing down on him after he suggested in a tweet and a blog posting that Daim and his billionaire friends were making key decisions for the Pakatan Harapan government.
“In all my years of writing, I have taken great pains to ensure the accuracy of the information I received, but this one is obviously faulty and has crossed the line of responsible writing. “I much regret it,” he said. Zaid also said that he would cease writing altogether as it was best for his self-esteem and his family’s welfare.
“I started writing regularly nine years ago. It’s difficult to write with honesty and some courage without upsetting or hurting some feelings somewhere,” he said.
He said when he previously spoke out about the undesirability of having Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as Prime Minister long before the 1MDB scandals came to light, the reaction was similarly fast and furious.
He said this was why he retired from his law firm Zaid Ibrahim & Co, so that it would not suffer from the association with me.
“Such was the heavy price I have had to pay for the freedom to speak on matters that I thought were important to the country,” he said.
He also said that he would no longer be a member of any political party, having wasted enough years in politics.
“Maybe Malaysian politics does not need someone like me, and I have realised this a little too late. I thought I had given Pakatan Harapan enough in the last eight years to at least get some respect and recognition from its members, but it’s not to be,” he said.
He added that he would start working again to pay off the debts he had accumulated after many years in the wilderness.
“They called me all sorts of names – maverick and what not – but don’t believe them.
I am just a simple man who believes in truth and justice, but I don’t have the means to fight anymore,” said Zaid.