Pakatan Rakyat = DAP + PAS + PKR

April 1 - Finally, after months since the People's Parliament proposed the term "Barisan Rakyat", and after weeks of being used by the Rakyat "unofficially", the three Malaysian Opposition parties (also Ruling parties in 5 States), i.e. DAP, PAS, and PKR, have agreed to enter into a formal coalition, called Pakatan Rakyat (People's Pact).

Meeting attended by the Parties' Leaders today, i.e. YB Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim of PKR, YB Lim Kit Siang of DAP, and YB Dato' Seri Tuan Guru Haji Abdul Hadi Awang of PAS, made the announcement in the Press Conference this afternoon.

The forming of this coalition also marked the "official" beginning of the 2-party system era i.e. Barisan Nasional vs Pakatan Rakyat. The voting pattern of the Malaysian voters in 12th General Election has already indicated such sign i.e. voters are voting in 2-party manner either Barisan Nasional or Barisan Rakyat then - irregardless of the candidate is from DAP, PAS or PKR. That's why we can see non-Malay voters are casting votes for PAS while Malay voters are casting votes for DAP.

A convention of all Pakatan Rakyat MPs and ADUNs will be held on April 27. What we might be able to see, soon, would be the a unify logo for Pakatan Rakyat.

Nonetheless, unlike BN, all component parties in Pakatan Rakyat are equal in power and authority. Whilst in BN, UMNO is the leading party that sits on top of the rest of component parties. All the rest such as MCA and MIC have to "listen" and "obey" to UMNO. However, some commented that this form of coalition (PR) might be fragile and requires lots of wisdom, compromise and tolerance to keep the coalition together.

Check out the official press releases from Pakatan Rakyat component parties and some news coverage:-
Parti Keadilan Rakyat
Harakah (PAS)
Lim Kit Siang's Blog
Sin Chew Daily (mandarin)
The Malaysian Insider : It's official. It's historical. Opposition forms coalition

With this coalition formed, Malaysians have now two Lions that we can choose from (See Parable of the Lions and the Wolf ) and no longer be only limited to one single blood-sucking Wolf. We can make our choice!