Pakatan parties will seal pact, says Zaid

By Leslie Lau - The Malaysian Insider

Consultant Editor

KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is working towards registering the alliance officially to underline its commitment towards being a viable alternative coalition to the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), says Datuk Zaid Ibrahim.

The former BN minister, who joined PKR less than two months ago, wrote in his blog yesterday that he was aware of the criticisms levelled at PR parties for not formalising a common platform.

“All the members of Pakatan are ready to serve the public in the name of Pakatan.

“In fact in all our daily activities we are already acting as members of Pakatan and not just members of PKR, PAS or DAP,” he wrote.

Since joining the federal opposition, Zaid has been given the task of coordinating the activities of the joint PR secretariat.

The Malaysian Insider understands the act of formalising the alliance as an official coalition like BN has one major hurdle.

Under the rules of the Registrar of Societies, a political coalition must consist of at least seven parties. This means PR will have to attract more political parties to join its fold before it can be registered.

But Zaid appeared confident that this could be achieved.

“The people will be given a real choice in the next elections; there will be one-to-one contests,” he said.

PR leaders are understood to be in talks with several political parties to join the alliance.

But there are also ongoing talks between PKR, DAP and PAS to come out with common policies.

“I am aware of many critics who say Pakatan does not have concrete policies or even common policies. People say that because of our different ideologies Pakatan cannot be united like BN.”

He said PR leaders and members were already tired of being in opposition and have proven their abilities to withstand pressure from what he referred to as “dictatorial BN government.”

“They have been tested time and again. They have been jailed, detained under the ISA and their supporters are brave and strong.”

He claimed that BN’s strategy now was to create fissures among PR parties “because they are afraid of one-to-one contests.”

While Zaid acknowledged there were weaknesses in the PR alliance, he said the leaders remained committed towards formalising their current arrangement and offering a viable alternative to BN.