Pakatan Harapan is now a valid coalition - Muhyiddin
File photo
PETALING JAYA, May 16 (Bernama) -- Pakatan Harapan has been officially been approved as a coalition of four parties, said Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
The PPBM president who was named by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the Home Minister-designate said the decision was made by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) today.
"Tonight, I wish to announce as Home Minister-designate, a long-awaited decision, although it was done without my involvement, as I have not taken the oath of office, but action was taken through the ministry's secretary-general who informed that the registration of Pakatan Harapan was approved today," he said.
He said this at the Merdeka Rakyat Gathering to celebrate the freedom of PKR's de-facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim here, tonight.
Also present were Anwar's wife, Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, PKR's president who has been named as the new Deputy Prime Minister -designate, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu (Defence Minister-designate) , and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng (Finance Minister-designate).
Pakatan Harapan which defeated the Barisan Nasional in the general election on May 9 is a coalition made up of PPBM, PKR, DAP and Amanah.
In the 14th General Election, candidates from the coalition had to contest under the PKR banner, as it could not be officially registered with the ROS.
The reason given by ROS at the time was that one of its component parties, namely PPBM, had allegedly failed to submit the required documents to ROS within the stipulated time.
The coalition, however, won the election and named its chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the Prime Minister.
Muhyiddin said PPBM was also recognised as a valid party after its registration was approved by ROS today.
Meanwhile, Wan Azizah said she was grateful that the people gave full support to Pakatan Harapan, and came out to celebrate Anwar's freedom today. "Thankfully, this Ramadan will be celebrated with Anwar's liberation, Anwar had previously been jailed and oppressed," he said.
Muhyiddin said he also did not expect the event tonight to get such widespread media coverage, including the likes of TV3.
Meanwhile, PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli who also spoke during the event, urged the media to give fair coverage to all parties, even the Opposition, as each side had the responsibility of raising the issues of the people.
"Lastly, I urge my friends in Pakatan Harapan to realise that every single sen you spend is the people's money, and I urge them to be aware that the ones who raise us are not party figures or certain individuals, but the people," he added.
Anwar was serving a five-year sentence for sodomy and was due to be released on June 8 but was freed today following a royal pardon.
-- BERNAMA
