JAILED opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s endorsement of PAS-PKR cooperation should not be taken as a signal to continue talks with the former coalition partner, said PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli.

He said he welcomed Anwar’s statement yesterday that all decisions by the PKR and Pakatan Harapan leadership must be concluded quickly as the window of time leading up to the 14th General Election was shrinking.

“For me, this issue (PKR-PAS cooperation) no longer arises and the statement by Anwar yesterday should not be misunderstood as an agreement to suspend seat negotiations at the PH level just to persuade PAS until the final moment of nomination (day),” he said in statement today.

Anwar had said it was he who endorsed continued talks between PKR and PAS since two years ago, and that he approved efforts by PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali to discuss an electoral pact with PAS in Selangor in GE14.

The party de facto leader also said talks with PAS must be conducted within the framework of PKR’s commitment to PH.

He added that his stand had always been consistent – that the door to negotiations must always be kept open to prevent three-cornered fights – but “the leadership has the right to make changes from time to time”.

Rafizi and Azmin are the two main protagonists in the PKR-PAS cooperation issue, with the former pushing for a special congress to be held to turn the matter over to the PKR grassroots if the guidelines provided by Anwar, as well as the decision made by the PH presidential council to reject PAS, were insufficient for the party to reach a conclusive decision.

Azmin’s recent statement that he was prepared to discuss with PAS the allocation of seats in Selangor in GE14 had not gone down well with PKR leaders, including Rafizi, who said such a move could confuse supporters.

Anwar yesterday questioned the need to hold a special congress to discuss cooperation with PAS, despite saying he was open to the idea.

Rafizi said he agreed that such a congress was not necessary as a clear decision on the matter had been made by the PH presidential council, but added that the party grassroots had the right to call for one if things remained unclear.

The PH presidential council last week decided that the coalition would not cooperate with PAS and was ready to face three-cornered fights in GE14.

Rafizi said the decision was made based on the most current information, whereas Anwar, being in prison, might be receiving limited information because his most frequent point of contact with PKR was through his lawyers, R. Sivarasa, Latheefa Koya and N. Surendran, whom he said were “supporters of working together with PAS to avoid three-cornered fights”.

He said what Anwar had done was reiterate the principles of consensus on the PAS issue within PH, whereby PKR must remain committed to the pact; any cooperation with PAS must be part of PH’s overall election strategy nationwide; and, PKR’s openness to PAS could always be reviewed by the party and PH leadership from time to time. – September 3, 2017.