Pakatan post aya revival on hold
GHB members not yet ready for split from PAS
PETALING JAYA: Plans to revive Pakatan Rakyat soon after Hari Raya has been put on hold.
This follows the delay in the setting up of a new party to replace PAS in the opposition pact.
This is because those behind the Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB), comprising like-minded progressive PAS members who had lost in the recent party election, are not yet ready to split from the Islamist party.
GHB deputy chairman Salahuddin Ayub said they would only form a new party after carefully studying every aspect.
“We are not looking into forming a new party to challenge PAS. Our focus would be to champion the plight of the rakyat suffering financially and socially,” he said.
He said GHB was not in a hurry to form a new party just because DAP leaders wanted PAS replaced with a new party soon after Hari Raya.
Salahuddin said they would ponder over the possibility of forming a new party at their own pace.
“Forming a new party is not easy. It will be an uphill task ensuring its long-term survival,” he said.
Salahuddin said they would get feedback from grassroots, core supporters, non-governmental organisations and youths before deciding on forming a new party.
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng recently announced that Pakatan was dead.
PKR leaders are split – its secretary-general Rafizi Ramli had said that the coalition is no longer functioning while its deputy President and Selangor Mentri Besar Azmin Ali claimed that the coalition is still going strong.
PAS former secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali had said Pakatan had temporarily “fainted”.
There was talk that GHB chairman Mohamad Sabu would announce the birth of the new party during a Hari Raya gathering in Perlis. But Salahuddin said that after Hari Raya, they would only start going on road shows to make their intention clear.
In a related development, Persatuan Ummah Sejahtera president Datuk Phahrolrazi Mohd Zawawi confirmed that informal talks had begun on the formation of a new party.