Presently he is a member of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component of Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
He also acted as the defense attorney for former prime minister Najib Razak in the RM42 million SRC money laundering case.
He was replaced as chairman by Nik Norzul Thani, who said the firm was implementing a succession plan they drew up after Zaid's election in 2004.
[4] After criticising the arrests of three prominent individuals—Democratic Action Party MP Teresa Kok, blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, and journalist Tan Hoon Cheng—under the Internal Security Act, Zaid resigned from the Cabinet on 15 September 2008.
[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.
[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.
[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 unveiled the KITA's official party ideology and principles, including its new constitution, manifesto, and logo, in Kuala Lumpur on 19 January 2011.
[28][failed verification] In 2017, Zaid had announced in a press conference in his Petaling Jaya home that he has officially joined the Democratic Action Party, reasoning that "he will be able to reach out to Malay voters".
They can provide that energy and the strength to bring everybody else on board and institute real reform in this country..."[32] On 16 September 2022, Zaid rejoined UMNO.
He argues that in the grand scheme of things, the RM42 million (the amount of corruption for which Najib is imprisoned) is a relatively minor issue.
In 2008, he was one of four Malaysians named by Forbes in its list of generous and interesting philanthropists in Asia,[5][35] for starting the Kelantan Foundation for the Disabled in 1998.