As Pakatan convention nears, leaders dither on coalition issues
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider
The Pakatan Rakyat (PR) annual convention may just be a week away, but its top leadership has yet to address or decide on various issues, including PAS’s insistence for an Islamic state or its logo and formal registration.
Expectations are running high for the convention next week, the second one PR has held since the 2008 general elections, amid speculations of snap polls as early as March next year.
PR leaders have dubbed the upcoming meet as a “necessity” to reassess and reprioritise on strengthening the coalition, in light of PKR’s recently-concluded fractious party elections, where its members have either left the party or complained of fraud in the elections process.
A recent Universiti Malaya opinion poll has also revealed that 43 per cent of residents in PKR stronghold areas will not support the party in the next general election due to a decline in confidence after its polls last month.
A mere 35 per cent of those polled claimed they would continue to vote for PKR while 22 per cent said they were unsure.
“The upcoming convention is crucial for us to get our act together, to reassess Pakatan’s goals in light of growing speculations of snap elections,” said DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua (picture).
Pua however said that while PR needed to prepare themselves for the next general elections, having a common logo or pushing for a formal coalition was not “substantive” for an electoral win.
“It is a right to have but it’s not crucial towards a successful coalition. It is more important to concentrate on the common policy platform. If we can arrive at a common policy network it would supercede the idea of a formerly registered coalition. We have already submitted the forms some time back, but it is not a crucial element for us,” said Pua, also pointing out that while BN was formally registered, the federal coalition had “failed” to ensure that its members were treated equally.
Pua’s views was seemingly in tandem with that of PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, who had downplayed the need for PR to be formally registered or to have a formal logo before the next general elections.
Hadi had last week rubbished talk that PR’s inability to agree on a common logo was a sign of the coalition’s weakness, saying that “logos were not important.”
“Pakatan Rakyat (PR) can form a federal government without having to be (registered) as a formal coalition. We have achieved successes in the past using our current formula,” Hadi told The Malaysian Insider in an interview last week.
Among the criticisms that have been directed towards PR since its loose formation was its constant clashing on several key issues, most notably the issue of an Islamic state which PAS has maintained that it will not back down from. PR’s inability to come to agreement over its official logo since last year’s convention has also been seen as a weak point for the opposition bloc.
BN lawmakers have also, from time and time again attacked the three PR component parties for being unable to decide on common policy issues surrounding its stand on the formation of an Islamic state and as to the top PR leadership should they take over Putrajaya.
“I cannot tell you right now about whether we have come to an agreement on the logo. It’s still some way to go, but we will be announcing something concerning the design of the logo at the upcoming Pakatan convention next weekend.
