KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 — PKR president Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has told independent MP Zulkifli Noordin to move on from the episode of his sacking and stop harping on the matter.

The soft-spoken wife of PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today she did not want to further engage in a verbal war with the maverick politician, despite the latter’s personal attack on her last night.

“I think enough has been said about this subject. He should move on from this, there is no need to keep talking about this any longer,” she said when contacted by The Malaysian Insider this morning.

Zulkifli responded to Wan Azizah’s call for him to resign his MP seat in Kulim-Bandar Bharu with a personal attack against his former president last night by mocking her pseudo-Islamic ways, saying that upholding Islam was not confined to wearing her “small silk gloves ala Michael Jackson”.

Claiming to be an extremely close and loyal friend to Wan Azizah and her family, he also voiced disappointment that his “Kak Zah” had allowed herself to be influenced by the “little Pharoahs” in PKR when she agreed with his sacking order.

“Has she already forgotten how these little Pharoahs had reduced her to tears? And who was there as her shoulder to cry on during those moments but me?”

“I never wanted to make any statement against her not merely because I have respect for her as my elder by because we have been through many bittersweet memories. She has confided a lot in me on her secrets and the future of her family for the 12 years that I have been with them,” he claimed.

Zulkifli was sacked from PKR after facing the party’s disciplinary board for infringing on a gag order and lodging a police report against Shah Alam PAS MP Khalid Samad over the “Allah” issue.

In response Zulkifli’s comments, a tired-sounding Wan Azizah told The Malaysian Insider that she did not want to engage further on the matter.

“Oh God, why is he saying all this. There is no need to comment on this, I think we should just leave it at that. There is no need to respond to personal attacks,” she said.

She pointed out that the reason why she had told Zulkifli to resign was not because of the seat but because it was a matter of principle.

“I do not understand now why he is asking me to resign instead. It is not a about the seat. I said he should resign because he had won on the ticket of PKR so he should run as an independent instead,” she said.

When contacted, PKR Wanita chief Zuraidah Kamaruddin came to the defense of her president and said that Wan Azizah had every right to practice Islam the way she saw fit, whether it meant wearing gloves or not.

“Islam has a large scope where one can choose which way of life you want to follow. For the good of her position as the president, she has chosen this (to wear gloves) and it is her choice,” she said.

She added that Zulkifli was not the only one who was close to Wan Azizah and her family and there were many others who had remained loyal since day one.

“We were all close to the struggle because Anwar at the time was a symbol of justice and struggle for the people of Malaysia. I think if you look at the struggle, all of us had jumped onto the bandwagon since Anwar was sacked as the deputy prime minister in 1998.

“We all struggled in our own ways, he (Zulkifli) did it in his own way,” she said.

Zuraidah said that for now, Zulkifli should just move on and accept his sacking for the decision had not been made by Wan Azizah alone but by all the supreme council members.

“Instead of talking this way, he should work to try and improve the situation. He can contribute on his own if he wants. If he is truly genuine about fighting for the principles of PKR, he can do it. It does not matter that he is no longer in PKR for a person who is genuine can fight on in whatever capacity,” she said.

She cited the example of independent MP Ibrahim Ali and his Malay right-wing Perkasa.

“He (Zulkifli) can find his own way too,” said Zuraidah.