Zaid Ibrahim rejoins Umno to help reform party from 'within'

SHAH ALAM - Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim has rejoined Umno.

Based on a report by English Daily The Star, the senior lawyer said he rejoined the party to help reform it from "within".

It was reported that he has submitted his membership form during the Umno briefing at the World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 27.

"My only intention is to help Umno. I have retired and there is not much work for me. I am not too busy and I go back to the party; I can help.

"I wish to see Umno more reform minded and more open into renewal where to do it, it must be from "within"," he said.

Zaid said this when met after attending a talk organised by Johor Bharu Barisan Nasional (BN) at Balairaya Stulang Baru, in Johor Bharu on Friday.

He was also reported to have said that his friends had suggested that a reform was hard to make in Umno if it came from the "outside".

This, he said had led to his decision to rejoin the party.

"Finally, I feel that it is better for me to be with Umno even though the reform might take a long time," he was quoted saying.

The former minister previously joined the party in 2000 and found victory in the Kota Baru parliamentary seat in the 2004 general election before Umno dropped him as candidate in GE12.

He was suspended from Umno in 2008 and joined PKR in 2009.

However, he resigned a year later from the party before forming Parti Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (Kita) in 2010.