"Pakatan Rakyat Malaysia"

KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Rakyat has accepted a suggestion from the Registrar of Societies (ROS) to register itself under the name Pakatan Rakyat Malaysia.

Nevertheless, the opposition alliance does not expect a smooth ride to registration, according to Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, secretary-general of Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

"Let’s be frank," he said in an interview with the PAS-affiliated Harakah Daily. "It took years for Parti Sosialis Malaysia, which is aligned to the opposition, just to get approval to become a political party. What more with the Pakatan, when we are the Number One threat to Prime Minister Najib Razak?

“No doubt, another party Makkal Sakthi got the green light within months but then this is the double standards that we are talking about. If you are aligned to Umno-BN, approval is in the blink of an eye. If you are not, then you may have to wait for years.”

In November 2009, PAS, PKR and DAP rushed to tender their application after the Registrar of Societies, Md Alias Jalil, publicly said there was no rule that required a formal coalition to have a minimum of seven component parties.

Saifuddin said ROs had responded once since the application was made.

“They confirmed that no other party has taken the name Pakatan Rakyat and .. they also said we could adopt the name Pakatan Rakyat Malaysia. And we have agreed.
“Adding on the ’Malaysia’ will give us a greater national sense and flavour. Frankly, at this stage, we do not wish to make many objections because we don’t want any unnecessary delay.”