Pakatan will meet soon to resolve disputes between parties

The Pakatan Rakyat leadership council meeting today with (from left) DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, DAP's Lim Kit Siang and PKR president Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, at the PAS headquarters in Jalan Raja Laut, Kuala Lumpur today. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Mukhriz Hazim, February 8, 2015.Pakatan Rakyat will convene two meetings to resolve outstanding issues that have been causing some tension between the three parties in the opposition coalition.

Among the major issues that have caused uncertainty as to the future of the coalition are Kelantan's plan to table the hudud law enactment and DAP's support for local council elections.

The first meeting will be held on February 10 after the Federal Court makes its decision on Anwar's appeal against his sodomy charge. This meeting will address the issue of who will succeed him in leading the coalition should his conviction be upheld.

The second meeting, for which the date has not been determined, will be convened to resolve issues related to PAS-led Kelantan's plan to amend the Syariah Criminal Code II 1993 to allow it to implement hudud, and DAP's move to push for local council elections.

Besides these two meetings, the three parties will meet again in May for a convention.

"In today's meeting, it was agreed that a PR convention be held on May 10 to reinvigorate support," said opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim after the one-hour PR leadership council meeting today.

Today's highly-anticipated meeting is the first held for this year, and was attended by senior leaders from the three parties, PAS, PKR and DAP.

The meeting comes four months since they last met in October last year.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, who had a few days ago still raised some doubts as to his attendance, was present "front start to end", according to Anwar, although he was later absent from the press conference.

Hadi has kept a low profile and skipped council meetings following the Selangor menteri besar issue last year.

Anwar said Kelantan deputy menteri besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah was also present to explain the issues surrounding the plan by the PAS government in the east coast state to implement the Islamic penal code through a tabling of a Private Member's Bill in Parliament at the coming March sitting.

Anwar reiterated that the pact will continue to make its decisions based on consensus despite the differences encountered between the three parties.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said with the Federal Court due to give its judgment on Anwar's sodomy appeal, all three parties in PR have pledged to be steadfast in its struggle to defend the pact.

"We stress that the trial was politically-motivated," he said.

Islamist party PAS had been at loggerheads with its allies DAP and PKR over its determination to go ahead with hudud and its refusal to back DAP's plan to implement local government elections.

The matter of local council elections has also seen PAS's Hadi play the race card by invoking the specter of the race riots of May 13, 1969 and claiming that the third vote would only widen the racial divide.

At the same time, PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali has been arguing openly in the media with Guan Eng, as well as DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke, over the same matter.

- TMI