(The Star) Fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin has accused the PKR faction backing Azmin Ali for deputy president over the attacks against Datuk Zaid Ibrahim.

He said talk of a third force in PKR emerged before there was any indication of trouble in the party or that Zaid would be leaving.

“Suddenly, everyone is saying that Zaid is the leader of the so-called third force. They blamed Zaid for jeopardising the future of the Opposition coalition.

“They even chided Malaysia Today for ‘hurting’ Pakatan Rakyat. But they are the same people who are burning the bridges and making it impossible for Zaid to reconsider his position,” he said in an article entitled “Who are the real Trojan Horses?” in his column No Holds Barred yesterday.

Responding to an article by columnist Tay Tian Yan which suggested that Zaid was behind the third force in PKR, Raja Petra said the way he was being demonised would make it difficult to close ranks.

“Maybe this is why Zaid is being demonised. Maybe these are the real Trojan Horses after all. They are worried that a peace treaty might be hammered out and peace will again reign in PKR.

“So they are rubbing Zaid the wrong way to make sure that he does not cool down and reconsider his position.”

Raja Petra said there was also a tone of mockery in the way Tay had written the piece by assuming that Zaid was going to form a new party.

“If you push him too much and if you continue to mock him, then he might just do that out of spite,” he said, adding that people, like the writer, who were aligned to one faction, were delighted with the current conflict.

Meanwhile, Barisan Rakyat coordinator Haris Ibrahim denied that it was a “third force” or that it was backed by Zaid.

The blogger, who said the group aimed to supply Pakatan Rakyat with MPs that would not abandon it after securing enough seats to form the Federal Government, said it hoped to contest 30 parliamentary seats in the next general election.

“So far, we have 16 potential candidates. We will contest using PKR and DAP banners but in Parliament, we will serve as independents.

“We do not want to form a new party as we want to do away with politics of patronage where division chiefs expect to be nominated.”

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