KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) are still working closely together, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today, after reports emerged of the peninsula-based opposition party’s decision not to join the federal opposition pact.
The PKR adviser would not divulge further information, however, and said the PR leadership will discuss the matter at its next meeting.
"We will discuss this at the next meeting. I have to get consensus with PR and we will respond and call a meeting but we are still in close association, in most of our programme," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby this evening.
Earlier today, PSM said it decided not to join PR after not getting an answer from the federal opposition pact since applying for entry two years ago.
Party secretary-general S. Arutchelvan said yesterday, however, that the party would still work with PR to oppose the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) in the next general election.
“PSM’s special internal discussion on November 2, 2014, has made the decision to cancel the intention to join PR,” Arutchelvan said in a statement on his Facebook page yesterday.
Arutchelvan also noted that there were three-cornered fights in three out of the four seats contested by PSM in last year’s 13th general election, in which it was challenged by supposed allies from PR.
Umno won the Semenyih state seat in the May 5 polls in a three-cornered fight with PKR and PSM.
Arutchelvan also said since applying to join PR on September 13, 2012, the last communications PSM had received from PR was on August 1 last year, where the opposition pact comprising PKR, DAP and PAS had said PSM’s application was still under consideration and had asked if PSM supported PR’s Buku Jingga election manifesto.
He added that PSM has decided to increase the number of federal and state seats it would contest in the 14th general election from the one federal and three state constituencies it contested in the past three elections.
