ULU YAM, Jan 24 \u2013 Opposition strongman Lim Kit Siang again dispelled growing fears that Pakatan Rakyat would crumble in the absence of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim if the de facto coalition chief goes to jail for a second sodomy conviction.<\/p>\n
The DAP parliamentary chief believed the federal opposition pact, which now controls four states, has flourished and are gelling well ever since its formation after the 2008 general election.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course we are worried and we do not want to see him jailed for a trumped-up charge but (his absence) is of no major contention as far as PR continuing with its struggle,\u201d the Ipoh Timur MP told The Malaysian Insider after a DAP campaign dinner.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are ready,\u201d added the veteran politician who was first elected to Parliament in 1969.<\/p>\n
Anwar is seen as the \u201cglue\u201d that brings the three PR component parties \u2013 PKR, DAP and PAS \u2013 together amid stark ideological differences.<\/p>\n
But pundits and a large chunk of PR supporters believe all that could come undone should Anwar be convicted for his second sodomy charge in a decade, which PR leaders believe is staged to kill off his political career and the pact\u2019s influence.<\/p>\n
Anwar himself has been on \u201cpre-emptive\u201d mode in light of his looming trial, hinting at large-scale nationwide ceramahs staged to rally support for him that his trial may well end with a conviction.<\/p>\n
His upcoming Sodomy II case, a major corruption crackdown and PR being painted as anti-Islam have pushed the informal alliance to hold rallies around the country to retain support against the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government onslaught.<\/p>\n
Lim, however, remain optimistic that PR and the voters \u2013 just as Anwar would have wanted \u2013 have matured and are leaving behind the \u201cpolitics of icons\u201d and will base their votes on who can govern best.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, Anwar has played a unique role of getting us together but after two years, I believe that PR has proven that it can stick together and we can go on without him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lim and his colleagues believe that the PR\u2019s Common Policy Framework (CPF) unveiled at its maiden convention last December is one the pact\u2019s hallmark achievements and is a testament to its determination to work together.<\/p>\n
The CPF is the pact\u2019s common manifesto and formula to dethrone BN and wrest Putrajaya.<\/p>\n
But observers remain sceptical that the CPF, which they believe is \u201ctoo superficial\u201d, will be strong enough to sort the differences between the parties particularly Islamist PAS and secularist DAP.<\/p>\n
They believe that many questions are still left unanswered, including who will take over as the leading figure of the pact, a question which is a ticking timebomb that leaders from all sides have so far avoided discussing.<\/p>\n
PR ideologue Datuk Zaid Ibrahim had once suggested the popular PAS spiritual chief Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat becomes the pact\u2019s chairman but support for the Kelantan mentri besar in that role has been lukewarm.<\/p>\n
Anwar\u2019s trial starts Feb 2 after the Federal Court decides on his application to access more evidence before the hearing. The former deputy prime minister was freed in 2004 after being jailed in 1999 for sodomy and abuse of power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ULU YAM, Jan 24 \u2013 Opposition strongman Lim Kit Siang again dispelled growing fears that Pakatan Rakyat would crumble in the absence of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim if the de facto coalition chief goes to jail for a second sodomy conviction. The DAP parliamentary chief believed the federal opposition pact, which now controls four states, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"better_featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1822"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1822\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}