Umno is poised to bring up the issue of opposition leader now that DAP has 29 seats compared to only PKR’s 24 to sow seeds of discord among Pakatan Rakyat ranks, according to PAS parliamentarian Khalid Samad.

 

"I expect Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, who has brought this up in the past, to raise the question again as he may think this will derail our cooperation. We should pre-empt this issue by making a clear and unequivocal stand on the matter.

 

NONE "Even after this, I expect BN to raise the question again in the event (Opposition Leader) Anwar Ibrahim is jailed because of the current sodomy trial.

“We have to handle this question with professionalism and be prepared for any eventuality on this matter," said the Shah Alam MP on his blog when commenting on the result of the Sibu by-election.

 

With the lost of Hulu Selangor and the victory in Sibu by-elections in the past month, DAP now has 29 MPs while PKR is down to 24. PAS, the third partner in Pakatan, has 23 seats.

PKR had won 30 seats in the 2008 general elections (not including the sole PSM seat won by D Jeyakumar who ran under the PKR banner in Sungai Siput).

DAP has previously said that it would concede the opposition leader’s post to Anwar.

AZLAN Khalid said following the Sibu victory, among the main tasks for Pakatan was to strengthen its cooperation in the selection of candidates for the next general elections.

 

"If we had done this cross-checking and sharing of information on candidates, there is a strong possibility that a certain PKR parliamentary candidate from the north may have been replaced because PAS' suspicions on the candidate would have been made known to our partners,” he said without naming the MP.

 

"Today, our suspicions on him have shown that we had a basis. And even Wee Choo Keong, who has his personal agenda, would have been rejected with this kind of cross-checking.”

Selection of candidates crucial

 

Khalid said Pakatan's excuse that they had fielded certain untested candidates in the last general elections because they had no chances of winning would no longer be accepted by the people in the next elections.

 

azlan "This time, the people expect us to select candidates who will be able to defend Pakatan's policy and will not be bought over by money," he added.

What was important, he said, was the candidates ought to understand and support the principle that no one should attack their counterparts from the component parties openly as this would only weaken the coalition and help BN.

 

"This will also make the people lose confidence in the coalition. Maybe there are those who do not understand why this is important for us," he said.

 

On another note, Khalid said PAS must free itself from any action or make statements that could be construed by others as a racist party out to defend only the Malay Muslims.

He added that at the same time, DAP should also make similar efforts to avoid any perception of it being a Chinese chauvinistic party.

 

"Finally, let us stop all open confrontations to ensure decisions are made jointly and unanimously. And if anyone is not happy, avoid going to the media, which will capitalise on this to destabilise our cooperation," he said.