New birth of Pakatan Rakyat

All top leaders of the 3 major opposition parties - PKR, DAP and PAS - today announced that they have agreed to form a new coalition called Pakatan Rakyat or People’s Alliance.

At a joint press conference this morning, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim said the leaders will now take the proposal back to their respective parties for approval.

Anwar, who was flanked by DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, said that the People’s Alliance will hold its maiden conference after the proposal has been endorsed by all three parties.

"Pakatan Rakyat pledges to uphold the rights and interests of all Malaysians as enshrined in the Constitution," said Anwar.

He said the governments of Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor would now be known as Pakatan Rakyat state governments.

"The policies of these governments will be conducted in accordance with the policies of Pakatan Rakyat," he said.

"We have developed and strengthened the structure of Pakatan Rakyat by creating under the leadership council - consisting of the leaders of the three parties - a joint secretariat consisting of three leaders from each party.

"This joint secretariat will be tasked with building the foundation and framework of the Pakatan Rakyat for ratification by the leadership council."

Anwar said that a convention of all Pakatan Rakyat representatives to Parliament and the state assemblies will be held on April 27.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said the new Pakatan Rakyat coalition will open its arms to “colleagues” in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, in particular elected representatives from Umno, MCA, MIC and Gerakan.

He said that they can join the new BR coalition either as “individuals” or “en bloc”.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang was speaking at a massive gathering of 25,000 supporters in Shah Alam’s Stadium Melawati last night.

At the ‘thanksgiving’ rally last night organised by PAS, Hadi Awang also spelled out some of the key agenda of Barisan Rakyat, leaving out the party’s Islamic state platform.

Among them are:

1. To amend or abolish all unjust and discriminatory laws, especially the Internal Security Act which allows detention without trial, Universities and University Colleges Act which restricts academic freedom, and the Official Secrets Act which makes government opaque.
2. To implement immediate electoral reforms, in particular relating to the task and operations of the Election Commission.
3. To ensure that the Anti-Corruption Agency be truly independent so that it can be effective in fighting graft and to stop any selective prosecution.
4. To restore public faith in the judiciary and to ensure that it is truly independent.
   

Hadi sought to play down PAS’ Islamic state policy by arguing that this was not part of the party’s constitution.

“The media should be looking at the (PAS) administration of Kelantan and Terengganu which has been accepted by people of all faiths. They have accepted that we practise fairness and equality without leaving any group behind,” said Hadi.

Anwar stressed that the Islamic state issue has not been raised by PAS and that the coalition would only deliberate on issues explicitly raised by the three parties.

“Why harp on the issue and provoke them to respond? To be fair, should PAS still make (it) an issue, it is okay for us to repond. But as I see it, they have not made this an issue for years,” he said.

Lim Kit Siang said the emphasis is to focus on "common principles among the three parties".

“The message of the March 8 elections is very clear. The people want to see the three parties work together and bring about change... they want to see change in the area of justice, democracy and good governance,” he said.

When asked who would lead the coalition, Anwar said no one person or party would have a greater standing and that it was the rakyat who would be the dominant party.

Source:

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