Pakatan Rakyat is yet to resolve whether it will adopt a common symbol for general elections, PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution says.

He said the main concern now was that the new symbol would be alien to the coalition’s core supporters and this would benefit BN.

"This is especially true in the rural areas. For example in Kelantan, the contest is traditionally between BN and PAS, and people recognise the moon (symbol) for PAS.

"So we will be in the disadvantage if we need to explain that PAS is in fact contesting, but under the new symbol," he said.

pkr kb convention saifuddin nasution Saifuddin ( right ) said Pakatan had mooted the idea to "assist voters in making their political decision".

He also said that the last they had heard from the Registrar of Societies (ROS) about registering Pakatan Rakyat as a political entity was "a few months ago".

"We were told that ROS want us to add 'Malaysia' to the coalition name to reflect a national identity, which I take as a positive indication," he said.

Yesterday, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had made fun of the idea of Pakatan contesting under one banner, saying that the component parties could not even meet without having "chairs and tables flying".

Brushing this off, Saifuddin said: "Hishamuddin knows that he will be in the news even if he coughs."

Pakatan Rakyat is due to hold its second national convention in Kepala Batas, Penang, on Dec 12.