The Pakatan Harapan presidential council list is still a work in progress, according to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) strategist Rais Hussin.

Although the coalition's top line-up was discussed during the Harapan presidential council meeting last Sunday, he stressed that the line-up was not final.

Since the respective parties' supreme council must deliberate and endorse the names, the final list is expected in two weeks' time.

Rais stressed that “three or four people”cannot determine the direction of Harapan.

“We are a democratic party with democratic principles (but) that process (of seeking endorsement) was not done before the list was leaked.

“Until such time when the list has been endorsed, only then we would be glad to share it during a Harapan presidential council press conference,” he told Malaysiakini.

Rais said it was important for the line-up to reflect the people's aspirations.

“It must get people's respect and confidence in bringing about change that has been discussed. It must have a proper line-up, a proper chain of command and this has not been finalised,” he said.

The Bersatu leader was responding to a report by The Malaysian Insight which quoted sources as claiming that the list was finalised during the meeting.

Leaked in 'bad faith'

Rais said those responsible for leaking the information had done so in bad faith to derail the discussions.

“The meeting was held behind closed doors, there were a limited number of participants; they are all senior leaders. I cannot for the life of me think that one of them would have revealed this.

“But certainly this was done with ill intention […] We believe sensitive discussions must be held behind closed doors in full confidentiality because this is about building trust among members of the coalition,” he added.

Meanwhile, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) deputy president Salahuddin Ayub said the purported list merely contained names of Harapan's pro-tem committee, drawn up to fulfill requirements by the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

“Usually for the pro-tem committee list, we can just name anyone first, we can even name orang kampung (village people) or normal citizens, it is okay.

“But we in Harapan are serious in registering the coalition so we decided to name the top leadership although it is just a pro-tem committee list.

“It’s to show how serious we are so that the ROS has no excuse to reject our application,” he told Malaysiakini.

The Amanah leader said it was also up to the public to interpret the list as Harapan's shadow cabinet.

Salahuddin confirmed that opposition leader Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was named the coalition's chairperson, and Amanah’s representatives in the committee, apart from himself, were president Mohamad Sabu, vice-president Mujahid Yusof Rawa and secretary-general Anuar Tahir.

Malaysiakini in March reported that Harapan had agreed to name former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the party’s adviser.

Wan Azizah, during the press conference on Sunday confirmed that Harapan parties had resolved to formally register the coalition with the ROS in two weeks' time.