Pakatan will go Orange, not Green, says Guan Eng

Pakatan to base joint election manifesto on the Orange Book.

BATU KAWAN: Pakatan Rakyat is strongly committed to introducing its inaugural joint election manifesto based on the much-touted Orange Book or Buku Jingga agenda, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said.

In a move to quash speculations that Pakatan allies may part ways due to PAS persistence on establishing an Islamic state, Lim allayed supporters’ fears, saying the coalition would surely go Orange, not Green (PAS colours), in its first joint manifesto to face the 13th general election.

Speaking at a state DAP grand dinner here last night, Lim said he had been given assurances by PAS and PKR leaders, including Anwar Ibrahim, that the joint manifesto would be based on the Orange Book.

“I have just spoken to Anwar and he confirmed that Pakatan is committed to implementing the Orange Book,” Lim told some 3,000 attending the party’s election fundraising dinner themed “Change Now, Save Malaysia”.

Pakatan has claimed previously that the Orange Book would be the basis of its joint manifesto that would set out a social contract between the government and the people.

Pakatan has been flogging the Orange Book as an alternative to Barisan Nasional’s (BN) policies in an attempt to win over voters.

Central to the Orange Book is the promise to implement sweeping reforms within the first 100 days of Pakatan seizing Putrajaya.

These include subsidy restructuring, abolition of the Internal Security Act (ISA), raising teachers’ pay and increasing royalties to oil-producing states.

Lim, the Penang Chief Minister, said Barisan Nasional merely want to capitalise on the hudud issue to create problems among Pakatan allies.

He said BN just wanted to create “a rift among us and falsely portray that Pakatan is breaking up”.

However, Lim cut short his clarification on whether PAS had dropped its idea of implementing hudud law in Kelantan, which it governs now.

‘Who’s going to settle these debts?’

Kelantan Menteri Besar and PAS spiritual adviser Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat has triggered a controversy when he said that the Islamist party was committed to implementing hudud in the state.

Anwar, the de facto PKR leader, which forms the backbone of Pakatan, said he believes that in principle, Islamic law could be implemented in Kelantan.

Anwar then added that it was his personal opinion.

DAP national chairman Karpal Singh has already called on Pakatan top brass to hold an urgent meeting to clarify PAS’ Islamic agenda.

Bukit Gelugor parliamentarian Karpal took a swipe at Pakatan Rakyat supremo Anwar by pointing out that leaders holding high positions did not have the luxury of expressing personal stands.

Lim, the Bagan MP, said that BN wanted to propagate as if Pakatan was tearing apart over the hudud issue merely to cover up various scandals happening in the Putrajaya administration.

He cited a recent international economic report that revealed that Malaysia had sufferred illicit financial outflows in excess of RM888 billion due to corruption and money laundering.

It was also disclosed that Malaysia’s debts amounted to RM437 billion.

Based on population ratio in the country, Lim, an accountant by profession, argued that each citizen should earn some RM33,000 from the black money and owe a debt of some RM16,000.

“Who’s going to settle these debts… Najib (Tun Razak) or other Barisan Nasional leaders?

Also present were Penang DAP chairman ChowKon Yeow, PAS vice-president Mahfuz Omar, PKR state chief and Deputy Chief Minister I Mansor Othman and DCM II P Ramasamy.