Zaid’s pro-opposition stance has not found support among all of KITA’s membership. — File picKUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has been removed as president of the People’s Welfare Party (KITA), the head of its Kelantan chapter was reported as saying by Bernama Online today.

According to the report, Abdullah Sani Musa asserted that Kedah KITA chairman Zamil Ibrahim was picked as the new president during an extraordinary general meeting in Kota Baru today.

“The EGM also rejected the sacking of two of KITA’s leaders, namely Zamil and Penang KITA chairman, Tan Tee Beng, who is also Nibong Tebal MP, as it deemed their removal was ultra vires to the party constitution,” Abdullah was quoted by Bernama Online.

“We unanimously picked Zamil to be president. He will be assisted by Sabah KITA chairman Datuk Pangeran Othman Rauf and former AKIM president, Zakaria Salleh.”

Both Zamil and Tan were dismissed following a unanimous decision during a KITA disciplinary board meeting on February 7 for “gross violations” against party discipline.

Zaid, a former Cabinet minister, had joined the opposition PKR in mid-2009 after being sacked from Umno. He subsequently contested for the its deputy presidency before quitting over what he claimed was gross abuse of the party’s election process, which eventually led him to form KITA.

But the two-year-old party has been fraught with internal bickering and challenges against Zaid’s leadership by other KITA members, who have disagreed with his pro-opposition stand.

Zaid recently announced that KITA will not be contesting the coming polls and promised to offer the party’s “unconditional support” to the federal opposition.

Today, Zamil said the party would be reversing Zaid’s position of not standing for elections.

“We will contest in all state and parliamentary constituencies that we feel we have a good chance of winning,” he said in the report.

Zamil later added that the party will now be based in Sungai Petani, Kedah.