PETALING JAYA: Zaid Ibrahim says he will repay the trust given to him by the PAS leadership through efforts to change perceptions of the Islamist party as extremist and anti-democratic.
The ex-law minister was among 15 individuals announced to be joining PAS in a public talk in Seremban, Negri Sembilan on Saturday (June 13).
"I will repay the trust given by working hard to change the perception that PAS is an extremist, anti-democratic party and unsuitable in a pluralistic society like Malaysia," he said as reported by Sinar Harian on Sunday.
Zaid opined that PAS is the only Malay majority party with the strength and determination to eliminate inequality, hegemony and class-based privilege.
According to him, the essence of Islam would be the main principle in the government that the party was fighting for.
He also expressed confidence that PAS has the potential to govern Malaysia with progressive Members of Parliament who have like-minded views after the upcoming general election.
The prominent lawyer has had a long history of joining various political parties, which began when he first joined Umno in 2000 before being expelled in 2008. He then joined PKR in 2009 but subsequently quit the party the next year.
After leaving PKR, he took over a small Kelantan-based party called Akim and rebranded it into a new, multi-racial national party named Kita in late 2010.
Following an internal squabble, he resigned as the party's president in 2012, after which he spent a few years operating as an independent political figure.
Zaid then officially joined DAP in 2017 and lasted three years before resigning in 2020.
He then rejoined Umno in 2022 but remained highly critical of the party before his latest move in joining PAS.
