Once bitten, twice-shy Pakatan Harapan banks on new accord for GE14
(Malay Mail Online) – Seeking to avoid the pitfalls made by Pakatan Rakyat, Pakatan Harapan will be unveiling on January 9 what it claims to be the most detailed and comprehensive formal agreement to be signed by its three members — PKR, DAP and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah).
Malay Mail Online understands that the agreement is crucial as it contains mechanisms on how to manage differences among the three parties in the event of a dispute as well as how to manage any electoral pact with independent political parties like PAS.
It is also understood that many in the Pakatan Harapan leadership agree that forming an informal alliance with the conservative Islamist party is inevitable as the coalition wants to avoid multi-cornered seat contests in the next general election.
“The coalition agreement governs to a certain extent how each party works externally, and also how it facilitates the working relationship between the three parties.
“There is a special article just to address how to manage matters when a member of one party does not show respect or attacks the member of another party within Pakatan Harapan,” PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli told Malay Mail Online when contacted recently.
Rafizi, who is involved in the drafting of the agreement said that there will also be a clear emphasis on the need to address any “unspoken problems” within the coalition.
“For instance, there will no longer a ‘agree to disagree’ understanding, like what happened with Pakatan Rakyat. We have to address issues and find a consensus,” he added.
Rafizi said he hopes the coalition agreement will push Pakatan Harapan towards being more “organisation-centric” and less focused on political personalities.
Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub said that the agreement will also set out clear rules for each parties if they choose to form an electoral pact with other political parties like PAS.
“Pakatan Harapan will try our best in whatever way to avoid three cornered contests, but any form of cooperation with any other political party must first be discussed and endorsed.
“For example, if you (PKR) want to have an electoral pact with individual parties (like PAS) it must first be brought to the Pakatan Harapan presidential council, and there must be a consensus with regards to the terms of the cooperation with the said parties before you can proceed.
“No unilateral decisions,” he told Malay Mail Online.
Pakatan Harapan chief secretary Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said that the coalition agreement is in the final stages of being drafted, and that the presidential council will meet again to discuss the matter before the signing ceremony on January 9.
“The presidential [council] will meet again on January 5, 2016. We are planning to hold a Pakatan Harapan Leaders’ Conference on January 9, 2016, where the agreement is expected to be signed. Until then, I am not supposed to reveal the contents of the agreement,” he told Malay Mail Online.
