Zaid to helm Pakatan Rakyat

Pakatan Rakyat has applied for formal registration, proposing to appoint as its chairman former government minister Zaid Ibrahim, officials said today.

The three-member opposition alliance, led by Anwar Ibrahim, made major strides in the general election a year ago but since then has been plagued by infighting and ideological differences.

Tian Chua, a top strategist in the alliance, said that the application lodged with the Registrar of Societies yesterday would make the party more cohesive.

"The registration shows the confidence among all three Pakatan parties that we can work together, are comfortable with each other and that we are confident of forming a future national government," he said.

"Once we are approved, we can then campaign on the ground as an alliance rather than individual parties and it shows that the Pakatan members are united in what we are doing regardless of differences in opinion."

Pakatan Rakyat consists of Anwar's PKR, the Islamic PAS and the pre-dominantly Chinese DAP.

A senior Pakatan official who declined to be named said the alliance's chairman would be Zaid Ibrahim, a former cabinet minister in charge of legal affairs.

He resigned from the ruling BN coalition government last year in frustration over its lack of reforms, and joined PKR this year.

Common platform

"Zaid Ibrahim will be the chairman of the Pakatan alliance and this is what we have submitted for approval to the Registrar of Societies," the official told on condition of anonymity.

Despite their differences of opinion, the opposition parties have jointly won seven out of the nine by-elections held since general elections in March last year during which they seized a third of parliamentary seats.

However, because it is not recognised as a legal entity, the alliance has not been able to campaign under a joint banner.

Chua ( right ) said the alliance had a lot of work to do to establish itself as a formal entity.

"The registering is only the legal process, and the real framework for us to work together needs to be set up, through coming up with a common platform and a decision-making procedure," he said.

- AFP