Malays Will Not Be Divided, Says Zaid

KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 (Bernama) -- Malays will not be divided although they have differences of opinion, says Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Zaid Ibrahim.
"When the leaders quarrel, there will be supporters taking sides but this does not mean that the Malays are divided.
"The Malay mind is not so fragile nor their thinking so narrow for this to happen because they know to judge which is right or wrong," he said when met at the parliament lobby today.
He said people who said that the Malays were in disarray were those who were unhappy with the present leadership's openness.
"Actually, these groups are angry with the prime minister (Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi). The want to scare the Malays because they are afraid of the changes taking place, such as the government's openness.
"They are so used to the old culture that they are uncomfortable with such openness although it benefits the people."
On the action by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to quit Umno on Monday, he hoped the issue would not be played up.
He said though there were talks that 1,000 Umno members had left the party as they were in support of Dr Mahathir, the number was small compared to Umno's total membership of more than three million.
"The people must ask themselves what are the main issues involved that the disagreement had come to this.
"What wrong did Pak Lah (Abdullah) do? The prime minister was lambasted for losing five states in the last general election but that was not his fault alone but all of us in Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN)."
Zaid said the prime minister himself had admitted the party's weaknesses and the approach taken now should be on findng ways to strengthen the party.
"Unfortunately, no one is talking about reformation or change in BN.
What I always hear is people asking Pak Lah to step down and transfer power. These are statements by power-crazy people," he said.

tunku : another denial syndrome disease affected person in umno.before the election he criticized pak lah government and now after being made a minister he said "what wrong pak lah do? keep it up zaid, the new hatchet man of pak lah.