KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 — Lim Kit Siang said today the consolidation of opposition forces that culminated in the formation of Pakatan Harapan earlier this week had been timely, especially with Malaysia now wracked by troubles on its political front.

In a press conference at the DAP’s headquarters, the Gelang Patah MP said the country has lost direction owing to incessant infighting among leaders in both Barisan Nasional (BN) and the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat (PR) that Pakatan Harapan replaced.

“Malaysia has been headless in terms of direction for many months and with political scandals, we are heading towards disaster… the government is fractured, we are fractured as well,” Lim said.

“The vacuum has been left there for too long and we filled it. Pakatan Harapan has to be established to give the country a new sense of direction.”

Malaysia’s political landscape has been on a roller coaster ride in recent months with both BN and PR facing leadership disputes.

PAS’ deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man has called the move to form the new coalition as too hasty.

Even some opposition leaders who attended the roundtable discussion later said they were not happy with the decision as they believed there should be more developed framework and policies before launching a new coalition.

PR dissolved mainly due to the disagreement between DAP and PAS over the Islamist party’s hudud ambition. Both sides traded barbs for some time before cutting ties, resulting in the dissolution of the five-year-old pact.