source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaid_Ibrahim
Dato' Mohd Zaid Ibrahim (born 10 April 1951) is a prominent Malaysian lawyer turned politician and is a former Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of legal affairs and judicial reform. He was previously a Senator in the Dewan Negara, the upper chamber of the Parliament of Malaysia.
He was a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), before being suspended on December 2, 2008. UMNO is part of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition which he joined in 2000. He was the Member of Parliament for Kota Bharu from 2004 to 2008. He is also the founder of Zaid Ibrahim & Co., the largest private law firm in Malaysia.
Born in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Zaid started his law studies in Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Shah Alam (or Institut Teknologi Mara (ITM) as it was known then) by taking his LL.B (Hons.) External Programme which was conducted by the University of London. Upon graduating from ITM, he went to London and was accepted as a Barrister-at-Law, Inner Temple. In 1987 he founded Zaid Ibrahim & Co., which as of 2008 is the largest law firm in Malaysia with over 140 lawyers.[1]
In 2000, he joined UMNO, becoming Kota Bharu UMNO division chief a year later. He was later suspended but became Kelantan Umno deputy liaison chief two years later. Zaid contested and won the Parliamentary seat of Kota Bharu in the 2004 general election.[2]
Zaid is known for his criticism of the government's handling of legal issues such as the judiciary, human rights and Islamic law. He supported the establishment of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Video Clip, criticising the government's initial response to the clip, which allegedly revealed fixing of judicial decisions and graft in the judiciary.[3]
When the then Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi reshuffled his Cabinet after the just concluded 2008 general election, he appointed Zaid as a Minister in the Prime Minister's Department to oversee legal affairs and judicial reform.[4]
Zaid resigned from the Cabinet on September 15, 2008.[9]
In June 2009 Zaid joined the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).[12] As part of the Pakatan Rakyat opposition alliance, Zaid was appointed to head the coalition's Common Policy Framework group where he was responsible for formulating a common manifesto and governing policy between the three disparate political parties (PKR, PAS, DAP) that made up the loose opposition alliance.[13][14] He also headed efforts, in his role as Pakatan coordinator and pro-tem committee chairman of Pakatan Rakyat Malaysia, to register Pakatan Rakyat as an official political coalition party with Malaysia's Registrar of Societies on Nov 3, 2009.[15][16] During the Hulu Selangor by-election in April 2010, Zaid was also fielded as the PKR candidate, but was narrowly defeated by P. Kamalanathan of the Malaysian Indian Congress.[17]
He subsequently resigned from the party.
On December 13, 2010, the Malaysian People’s Justice Front (AKIM), a tiny Kelantan-based opposition party, announced that Zaid Ibrahim has joined its ranks as a party member, with the view of having Zaid lead and revamp AKIM into a viable political party for the coming 13th Malaysian General Elections.[23] The party further explained that Zaid had submitted his membership application to join AKIM in Nov 2010 after his former party, PKR, accepted Zaid's resignation.
During the party's annual general meeting on December 15, 2010, Datuk Mohamad Zaid Ibrahim was elected as the party's new president, taking over from Zakaria Salleh, the outgoing president of AKIM.[24] The party also announced that it will be adopting a new name, the People's Welfare Party or Parti Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (KITA).[25] Zaid Ibrahim also announced that Kita would be a multi-racial democratic party open to all races in Malaysia, and despite its current small size, aims to make an impact in the country's political scene by focusing on goals for the long haul.[26] Zaid also announced that Kita's official party ideology and principles, including its new constitution, manifesto, and logo
Zaid is married to Datin Suliana Shamsuddin Alias and the couple is blessed with three children. In 2008, he was one of four Malaysians named by Forbes in its list of generous and interesting philanthropists in Asia,[2][27] for starting the Kelantan Foundation for the Disabled in 1998. The foundation provides free counseling services, physiotherapy, transportation and home visits to 2,400 disabled individuals from Zaid's home state of Kelantan, who are suffering from Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, blindness and other disabilities.
Dato' Mohd Zaid Ibrahim (born 10 April 1951) is a prominent Malaysian lawyer turned politician and is a former Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of legal affairs and judicial reform. He was previously a Senator in the Dewan Negara, the upper chamber of the Parliament of Malaysia.
He was a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), before being suspended on December 2, 2008. UMNO is part of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition which he joined in 2000. He was the Member of Parliament for Kota Bharu from 2004 to 2008. He is also the founder of Zaid Ibrahim & Co., the largest private law firm in Malaysia.
Born in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Zaid started his law studies in Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Shah Alam (or Institut Teknologi Mara (ITM) as it was known then) by taking his LL.B (Hons.) External Programme which was conducted by the University of London. Upon graduating from ITM, he went to London and was accepted as a Barrister-at-Law, Inner Temple. In 1987 he founded Zaid Ibrahim & Co., which as of 2008 is the largest law firm in Malaysia with over 140 lawyers.[1]
In 2000, he joined UMNO, becoming Kota Bharu UMNO division chief a year later. He was later suspended but became Kelantan Umno deputy liaison chief two years later. Zaid contested and won the Parliamentary seat of Kota Bharu in the 2004 general election.[2]
Zaid is known for his criticism of the government's handling of legal issues such as the judiciary, human rights and Islamic law. He supported the establishment of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Video Clip, criticising the government's initial response to the clip, which allegedly revealed fixing of judicial decisions and graft in the judiciary.[3]
When the then Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi reshuffled his Cabinet after the just concluded 2008 general election, he appointed Zaid as a Minister in the Prime Minister's Department to oversee legal affairs and judicial reform.[4]
Zaid resigned from the Cabinet on September 15, 2008.[9]
In June 2009 Zaid joined the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).[12] As part of the Pakatan Rakyat opposition alliance, Zaid was appointed to head the coalition's Common Policy Framework group where he was responsible for formulating a common manifesto and governing policy between the three disparate political parties (PKR, PAS, DAP) that made up the loose opposition alliance.[13][14] He also headed efforts, in his role as Pakatan coordinator and pro-tem committee chairman of Pakatan Rakyat Malaysia, to register Pakatan Rakyat as an official political coalition party with Malaysia's Registrar of Societies on Nov 3, 2009.[15][16] During the Hulu Selangor by-election in April 2010, Zaid was also fielded as the PKR candidate, but was narrowly defeated by P. Kamalanathan of the Malaysian Indian Congress.[17]
He subsequently resigned from the party.
On December 13, 2010, the Malaysian People’s Justice Front (AKIM), a tiny Kelantan-based opposition party, announced that Zaid Ibrahim has joined its ranks as a party member, with the view of having Zaid lead and revamp AKIM into a viable political party for the coming 13th Malaysian General Elections.[23] The party further explained that Zaid had submitted his membership application to join AKIM in Nov 2010 after his former party, PKR, accepted Zaid's resignation.
During the party's annual general meeting on December 15, 2010, Datuk Mohamad Zaid Ibrahim was elected as the party's new president, taking over from Zakaria Salleh, the outgoing president of AKIM.[24] The party also announced that it will be adopting a new name, the People's Welfare Party or Parti Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (KITA).[25] Zaid Ibrahim also announced that Kita would be a multi-racial democratic party open to all races in Malaysia, and despite its current small size, aims to make an impact in the country's political scene by focusing on goals for the long haul.[26] Zaid also announced that Kita's official party ideology and principles, including its new constitution, manifesto, and logo
Zaid is married to Datin Suliana Shamsuddin Alias and the couple is blessed with three children. In 2008, he was one of four Malaysians named by Forbes in its list of generous and interesting philanthropists in Asia,[2][27] for starting the Kelantan Foundation for the Disabled in 1998. The foundation provides free counseling services, physiotherapy, transportation and home visits to 2,400 disabled individuals from Zaid's home state of Kelantan, who are suffering from Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, blindness and other disabilities.
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