Pakatan to hold convention by December in push for common platform

ARCHIVES 2009

By admin-s On Sep 15, 2009

(The Malaysian Insider) KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 – Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will hold its first convention in December, as part of plans to put in place a formal coalition before the next general election.

The Malaysian Insider understands that the leaders of PKR, DAP and PAS agreed yesterday to hold the convention, at a PR leadership council meeting chaired by Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

At the December convention PR will hope to unveil common ideals and principles that will distinguish the alliance from that of the Barisan Nasional (BN) ruling coalition.

The often fractious ties between the three parties in PR now have made the push for a common platform gain momentum in recent months.

PR has been wracked with controversies, differences and disputes especially in Selangor, Penang and Kedah which is led by chief ministers from each party.

Datuk Zaid Ibrahim recently offered the public a glimpse of a PR federal government by outlining a common platform that includes an anti-discrimination law, abolishing the ISA and relaxing of legislation like the Sedition Act and press laws.

Zaid, who has been given the job of casting in stone common ground for the disparate alliance criticised for having no shared ideology, said a PR administration would also introduce an economic policy with safety nets and a new education strategy to produce more competitive graduates.

But Zaid will likely find it easier to find common ground between his party, PKR, and DAP, than with PAS.

PAS’s conservative spine is bound to push for more Islamic principles to be placed in any common platform, and this may not sit well with those in PKR and DAP.

The Malaysian Insider understands that at yesterday’s PR leadership council meeting, various working groups have been given the job of fleshing out common principles.

These common principles will be centred somewhat on the manifesto of the Barisan Alternatif (BA), the loose alliance the three parties formed for the 1999 elections soon after Anwar’s sacking as DPM and subsequent sentencing to jail.