Pakatan dead but opposition far from defeated, says PKR

PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli (centre) says the situation in Selangor, Penang and Kelantan will revert to pre-April 1, 2008, that is, before Pakatan Rakyat was formed officially. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, June 18, 2015.

Although the seven-year-old Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is officially dead, cooperation among the opposition front is far from over, said PKR.

Its secretary-general, Rafizi Ramli, said although PR would no longer function normally, the state governments led by the parties in the coalition would remain status quo.

"This means that in Selangor, it will be a PKR-led coalition with DAP and PAS assemblymen and in Penang, a DAP-led coalition. Similarly, in Kelantan, PAS will lead the pact," the Pandan MP told The Malaysian Insider.

"There is no formal pact. The leading party in each of the state's legislative assembly will form a coalition government."

PKR leads the Selangor government and has three PAS exco members. In the 56-seat state legislature, PKR has 13 seats, and DAP and PAS 15 each. Barisan Nasional (BN) has 12 and one is an independent.

Rafizi, who is also PKR vice-president, said the situation in the three states would be similar to pre-April 1, 2008, that is, before PR was formed officially.

"That was the date PR was formally founded. Prior to that, there was already a working relationship and cooperation between the three parties. But we were not bound by any formal arrangement or doctrines," he said.

Following PR's formation on April 1, 2008, there were two principles that all parties in the coalition had to adhere to, Rafizi said, adding they were:

1) Decisions have to be made on a consensual basis. "So whatever PR decides, we decide together and we are bound by it."

2) There was a set of documents which governed its policies so that it became a joint platform. "That is the common policy framework."

"Now that Pakatan is dead, we will go back to how it was pre-April 1, 2008. That means we are free to cooperate (with any other party). 

"But I am sure any political party with the same objectives will continue to cooperate but we are not bound together by the kind of rules and principles that we had before. That is the main difference now," Rafizi said.

Yesterday, PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail confirmed PR had officially ceased to exist following PAS's decision to cut ties with DAP, and DAP's own announcement earlier declaring the end of the seven-year-old pact.

She said PKR regretted both these actions, by PAS and DAP respectively, but said what they had done meant that PR could no longer function. 

"In light of this, the political coalition that is Pakatan Rakyat no longer functions formally," Dr Wan Azizah, who is also the federal opposition leader, said in a statement.

"PKR expresses regret on the resolution that was accepted without debate at the 61st PAS muktamar and subsequently the DAP central executive committee’s announcement of the end of Pakatan Rakyat that PKR considers hasty."

She was referring to the motion adopted without debate at PAS's annual general assembly earlier this month to cut ties with DAP. The motion had originated from the Islamist party's ulama wing, and was forced through the assembly of the party's main body, much to the anger of some grassroots delegates.

This prompted DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng to move ahead with a challenge to PAS representatives in the Penang government, of which he is chief minister, to quit their appointed positions. 

At least five have done so, including PAS progressives Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa and former deputy president Mohamad Sabu.

DAP then went ahead to declare the end of PR, a decision it made at a meeting of its central executive committee on Monday night.

Analysts, however, are optimistic that a new opposition coalition comprising DAP and PKR would be stronger and more stable as the two parties had more similarities than differences.

Rafizi said PKR could not discount the possibility of forming another coalition with like-minded parties, but would "wait and see".

"That was the third point we had made in our statement earlier," he said, referring to PKR saying that it will "continue to pioneer efforts to build a coalition among political parties, non-governmental organisations, groups and influential individuals to defeat Barisan Nasional".

"We are open to that and we will wait and see how things develop.”