Information and Culture Minister Salleh Said Keruak ponders if Pakatan Harapan, which is numerically dominated by DAP which has the most electoral seats, is going to be given a Malay face to disguise who is really in charge.

"By appointing a Malay from the minority parties as Harapan chairperson, it raises the question of whether Lim is trying to give the opposition a Malay face and it creates the impression that Harapan is an Ali Baba arrangement," said the minister in a blog posting today.

Ali Baba is a colloquial term which describes the practice of local companies where non-bumiputera businesspersons would use bumiputera proxies to qualify for bumiputera status and bid for government contracts reserved for bumiputeras.

Salleh said that this can only be the case if Lim does not take the chairperson seat in Harapan.

"Lim, DAP's adviser, should hold the post of Harapan chairperson, considering DAP has 38 parliament seats compared to only 27 for PKR and 6 for Parti Amanah Rakyat (Amanah).

"In the state assemblies DAP has 96 seats against just 48 and 7 for PKR and Amanah respectively. Minus the PAS seats, which is no longer a member of Pakatan Harapan, that makes DAP the largest party. And that also makes Harapan DAP-dominated," he argued

Salleh's speculation came about after Harapan announced that they have agreed to welcome Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) as a full member and that they will be moving for an official registration of the opposition pact with the Registrar of Societies.

Harapan also announced that they will be naming 18 members of the pro-tem committee which includes two special advisers' positions, though no details have been disclosed as to the identities or positions for the rest of the members.