Pakatan ready to go forward without Anwar
By Syed Jaymal Zahiid, The Malaysian Insider
Opposition strongman Lim Kit Siang again dispelled growing fears that Pakatan Rakyat would crumble in the absence of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim if the de facto coalition chief goes to jail for a second sodomy conviction.
The DAP parliamentary chief believed the federal opposition pact, which now controls four states, has flourished and are gelling well ever since its formation after the 2008 general election.
“Of course we are worried and we do not want to see him jailed for a trumped-up charge but (his absence) is of no major contention as far as PR continuing with its struggle,” the Ipoh Timur MP told The Malaysian Insider after a DAP campaign dinner.
“We are ready,” added the veteran politician who was first elected to Parliament in 1969.
Anwar is seen as the “glue” that brings the three PR component parties – PKR, DAP and PAS – together amid stark ideological differences.
But pundits and a large chunk of PR supporters believe all that could come undone should Anwar be convicted for his second sodomy charge in a decade, which PR leaders believe is staged to kill off his political career and the pact’s influence.
Anwar himself has been on “pre-emptive” mode in light of his looming trial, hinting at large-scale nationwide ceramahs staged to rally support for him that his trial may well end with a conviction.
