Penang’s recent announcement that it would have its own Merdeka theme did not go down well with pro-Pakatan Rakyat supporters, while the BN has hurled intense criticism at the decision.

Today, Penang made a U-turn and said it would conform to the decision by the Pakatan leadership to use its theme which had been decided earlier, ‘ Sebangsa, Senegara, Sejiwa ’ (One nation, one soul).

Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Mansor Othman said the decision proves that Pakatan was of “one voice” and is not at odds with each other as claimed by certain quarters.

“Penang, like other Pakatan states, always uphold the spirit of cooperation and respect for the consensus within the Pakatan leadership,” he said in a statement.

“Penang decided on the earlier theme because it had chosen it earlier, just like the other Pakatan states,” he explained.

“However, now that the Pakatan leadership has decided to use the theme ‘One nation, one soul’,  we agree to use it as well,” he added.

This decision proves once again the “willingness to allow differing views” in the Pakatan coalition but after a decision has been made, the partners would unite with one voice for the sake of the rakyat, Mansor said.

The theme ‘One nation, one soul’ was arrived at on Aug 1 as a protest to Putrajaya’s ‘ Janji Ditepati’ theme.

The federal government’s theme had been criticised because it is also being used by BN as a campaign theme in the run-up to the general election.