Pakatan Rakyat de facto chief Anwar Ibrahim is visibly heartened by the strong commitment shown by his colleagues in the opposition coalition’s leadership council to the principle of using internal channels for dispute-resolution.

That was not all. Anwar said consensus was also achieved on strengthening Pakatan through examining the implications of registering the coalition as a legal body.

NONE The council also reasserted its commitment to the on-going offensive against BN to counter its “racist policies and its use of the police and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency against the opposition.”

“Keeping up with all the media on the recent troubles besetting Pakatan, you would think it would be hard going today with Hadi (Awang) and (Lim) Kit Siang,” Anwar told Malaysiakini immediately after a lunch attended by some 100 Pakatan legislators and party stalwarts at the Tropicana Golf Resort and Club.

“Instead I found my colleagues in the council strong in their commitment that disputes among us must be resolved using internal channels rather than be aired publicly that has recently contributed to the public impression of disarray in the coalition,” explained Anwar, obviously buoyed by the harmony coursing through the top tier of the Pakatan leadership.

The lunch had followed a three-hour meeting of the Pakatan leadership council in which Anwar found PAS president Abdul Hadi and DAP adviser Lim strongly committed to idea of using internal channels to resolve intra-coalition disputes.

“I’m greatly heartened by their commitment to strengthening the coalition by agreeing to a method for resolving internal disputes, to moving towards registering the Pakatan as a legal entity, and to going on the offensive against the BN’s racist machinations,” said Anwar.

Gag order will go against Pakatan philosophy

Prior word had it that the council would impose a gag order on Pakatan representatives to prevent the airing of disputes among them in the media.

The specter of intra-coalition wrangles has haunted the Pakatan in recent weeks, prompting the meeting of the leadership council that was expected to opt for some authoritarian measures to forestall the public airing of disputes.

“Gagging our representatives would not be consonant with our frequent calls to the powers-that-be to allow for the freedoms of responsible speech and peaceful assembly,” averred Anwar.

“We must not employ methods that go against our philosophy that responsible dissent is not dangerous when publicly aired.

“It is only that when it is a dispute over an existing practice or policy, we want that dispute referred to internal channels for resolution because public airing of it would erode confidence in our ability to govern and would be exploited by our adversaries,” he elaborated.