Ezam to make a timely move back to Umno
Malaysiakini.com
May 22, 2008 
Stanley Koh

Former PKR Youth chief Ezam Mohd Nor's crossover to Umno is said to be imminent and expected to take place over the next few days to a week.
MCPX

"Ezam joining Umno is not something unexpected as Ezam has been courted as a candidate even before the March 8 general election," said a reliable source from Umno.

gerak meet aca 211107 ezam and abdul gani haronIt is learnt that the change of Ezam's political fortunes from his crossover from PKR to Umno has been given top approval from both Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy, Najib Abdul Razak.

According to the Umno source, the reason in bringing in Ezam to the Umno's fold was both strategic and timely.

"Ezam has declined to be an Umno candidate in the previous general election on grounds of integrity. But the time is now appropriate as Ezam will be given a meaningful role in the party," the source said.

Umno's move to embrace Ezam will help mitigate the current negative developments in the party.

On the other hand, Ezam also expects his new party to continue to exert efforts in reforming the judiciary and the fight against corruption which form part of his negotiation with the top Umno leadership before accepting the move to join the party.

The source also indicated that Ezam was expected to be given a senatorship and his future role will include the daunting responsibility to win back Selangor from the Pakatan government in the next general election.

"Ezam's future role besides stemming the tide of PKR in Selangor will also provide him a potential to be a candidate for the Umno Youth chief in the coming party elections."

A breath of fresh air

Given the lack of potential candidates with credibility and integrity in the Umno Youth line-up, the entry of Ezam will provide a breath of fresh air to the movement, particularly when he is being the given challenging task to wrest back Selangor.

"Ezam joining Umno could well be a turning point for the party in Selangor given current perceptions that the Pakatan government under the Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim has proven to be quite disappointing," according to a political observer.

"Besides a few public announcements on land issues and the pig-farming project, nothing seems to be moving."

Ezam, a former political secretary to PKR's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, was also PKR's Youth chief and had served a two-year jail sentence over the Anwar's issue.

He had massive fallout with Anwar and PKR vice-president Azmin Ali last year following an internal power struggle, which resulted in him in quitting the party.

Since then he had been critical of Anwar's style of leadership and Azmin's role as a dominant schemer in the party.

After that he concentrated on his anti-corruption NGO, Gerak. He will be relinquishing his position in the NGO from June, to be replaced by Mohd Nazree Yunus.

When contacted Ezam said that he would be issuing a statement on the matter next Tuesday.

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