Anwar not focus of Pakatan Rakyat meet
It’s premature to discuss Permatang Pauh and position of Opposition Leader.
Shane Fuentes, Free Malaysia Today
The reading, based on the comments of several Pakatan Rakyat MPs in the media, is that the opposition alliance’s forthcoming Presidential Council meeting will not be bogged down by a replacement for jailed Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim despite a looming February 24 deadline on his disqualification as MP.
The meeting, sometime next week, will also not discuss who will contest in Permatang Pauh, the seat held by Anwar.
If Anwar is disqualified, the seat would be declared vacant. However, he can delay the process by applying to the Federal Court for a revision of its February 10 ruling against him. Subsequently, he can petition the Agong for a pardon on the grounds of grave errors committed by the Federal Court.
Instead, the meeting is likely to focus on the importance of the opposition alliance’s Common Policy Framework and the PR Presidential Council meeting, which works on consensus, as the supreme policymaking body.
It was these two factors that led to stunning successes for PR in 2008 and 2013, the last two general elections. PR, an informal alliance, was formed on 1 April, 2008, a month after the 8 March, 2008 12th General Election. The focus of PR will be national issues and maintaining the momentum on public support in the wake of Anwar’s jailing.
The meeting, originally set for last Friday, was put off after PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat passed away a day earlier.
DAP national organizing secretary Anthony Loke, among others, was quoted in the Malay Mail Online as saying: “The meeting will be to make sure Pakatan parties are on the same page with regards to its basic framework, operational framework and how to continue to operate as a team.”
