Whatever differences they had were things of the past. Pakatan Rakyat component parties are now ready to take on the might of Umno and Barisan Nasional as a united front in this month's Penanti by-election in Penang.

anwar speak at yayasan aman 020509 Claiming this, PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim played down the differences that existed and said they were normal minor problems that would occur in any political coalition.

"I will gladly say that whatever differences in opinions and views expressed by Pakatan leaders at local and national-level on the Penanti by-election are now resolved.

"All Pakatan parties and leaders will be firmly united to back PKR. Pakatan will together fight our common foe to win in Penanti," the parliamentary opposition leader told some 500 Penanti voters in Yayasan Aman, Permatang Pauh last night.

Indicating that PAS Permatang Pauh would not field a candidate of its own to contest in Penanti, Anwar said he had personally met PAS state commissioner Mohd Salleh Man and resolved the matter amicably.

“Salleh Man has assured me that PAS would fully back PKR in this contest,” he said, without deliberating much on what transpired.

Penanti is a PKR stronghold

Differences in opinions have prevailed publicly between PKR and its Pakatan partners, DAP and PAS, since last month in connection with the Penanti by-election, which comes under Anwar’s Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency – a PKR stronghold.

lim guan eng koh tsu koon penang land scandal issue 220409 fairus khairuddin The seat fell vacant when incumbent representative, former deputy chief minister 1 Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin ( left ) resigned on April 16.

Penang Chief Minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng was cranky early on when Anwar was dragging his feet in deciding on the party nominees to fill up the posts of DCM 1 and state executive councillor in the state cabinet.

Both positions, vacated by Fairus effective April 8, were PKR’s quota in the Pakatan Penang government.

The chief minister was also upset when PKR announced Fairus’ resignation as Penanti representative before informing him.

However, the issue was quickly settled after Anwar personally apologised to Lim.

Then a discord surfaced between local PKR and PAS leaders over which party would be the best to represent Pakatan in the by-election even after Anwar had named former university associate professor Mansor Othman as candidate.

Anwar said the request by PAS Permatang Pauh to contest in Penanti were not signs of cracks in the Pakatan coalition as alleged by Umno.

Mansor's candidacy gets full support

He recalled that prior to Kuala Terengganu by-election in January this year, local PKR leaders claiming that the party had stronger support base, had also requested to contest the east coast parliamentary constituency.

However, Anwar said he turned down the request to preserve Pakatan’s concept of power sharing and political unity.

"Therefore, local PAS leaders' request to contest Penanti is normal in coalition politics. It's up to PAS and Pakatan leadership to decide," he said.

He said PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, Salleh Man, DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang and Guan Eng have all pledged full support for Mansor’s candidacy and were happy that PKR has chosen the right candidate.

anwar ibrahim dr mansor othman pkr candidate for penanti state seat by election 280409 03 Anwar said Mansor was the right person because he can provide a strong and vibrant Malay leadership in the current Penang government.

He said Mansor ( right ) was chosen because Pakatan needed a strong Malay leader representing all communities and make Penang Malays comfortable to work, live and move forward together with others.

Anwar hit back at Umno for criticising Mansor as an “outsider”, by pointing out that even he was not born in Permatang Pauh.

"I was born in Sungai Bakap," he said.